Sfivit; 



THE 



WEST INDIES 



18 3 7; 



BEING THE 



JOURNAL OF A VISIT 

TO 

ANTIGUA, MONTSERRAT, 
DOMINICA, ST. LUCIA, BARBADOES, 

AND 

JAMAICA; 

VNDERTAKEN FOR 

THE PURPOSE OF ASCERTAINING THE ACTUAL CONDITION OF THE 
NEGRO POPULATION OF THOSE ISLANDS. 

^ -' - ' ' 

BY 

/ 

JOSEPH STURGE AND THOMAS HARVEY. 



reconlr (gtritiou, 



REVISED AKD COKRECTED, WITH MAPS OF THE WEST INDIES. 



LONDON: 
HAMILTOx\, ADAMS, AND CO., 




PATERNOSTER-ROW. 



1838. 






WILLIAM TYLER, 

PRINTER., 

tOLT-COUni, rLEiCX-STHSET- 




^3 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Preface vi 

Preface to Second Edition . . . .■ x 

Voyage from Falmouth to Barbadoes xii 

CHAPTER I.— Barbadoes .'....• 1 

CHAPTER II.— Voyage to Antigua 8 

CHAPTER III.— Antigua 16 

CHAPTER IV.— Results of Emancipation in Antigua . 6:? 

CHAPTER v.— Montserrat . 73 

CHAPTER VL— Dominica .......... 82 

CHAPTER VII.— Martinique 98 

^lAPTER VIII.— St. Lucia 1«)G 

4APTER IX.— Barbadoes 117 

4APTER X.— Barbadoes— General Remarks 1:36 

HAPTER XI. — Jamaica — Kingston, St. Andrew's, and 

St. Catherine's 144 

CHAPTER XII.— Jamaica— St. Thomas' in the Vale, St. 

Ann's, Trelawney, and St. James's 18:3 

CHAPTER XIII. — Jamaica — Hanover, Westminster, and 

St. Elizabeth 214 

CHx\PTER XIV.— Jam.aica— Manchester, Clarendon, Spa- 
nish Town, and Kingston . , 243 

CHAPTER XV.— St. David's, and St. Thomas' in the East 

—.Journal of William Lloyd and Thomas Harvey . . , "265 
CHAPTER XVI.— Jamaica— Kingston, Port Royal, and 

St. Thomas' in the Vale 299 

CHAPTER XVIL— Results of the Apprenticeship in 

Jamaica :319 

CHAPTER XVIIL— Conclusion 344 



«»*^ 



APPENDIX. 



ANTIGUA. 

Page 

Section I. — Population 350 

11. — Commerce and Agriculture 35 I 

III. — Religion, Morals, and Education .... 354 

IV. — Local Governmient 358 

V. — Laws of Antigua . . 362 

VI.— The Abolition Act 366 

VIL— The Four and a Half per Cent. Duties . . 367 
VIII.— Waste Lands 368 

DOMINICA. 

Section I. — Table of Increase and Decrease of the Negroes 

on various Estates 369 

II. — Local Government 371 

III.— The late Governor 373 

IV. — Comparative Condition of the Negroes . . 375 

MARTINIQUE. 

Section L — Petitions of the Coloured Proprietors for Im- 
mediate Abolition 376 

II.— Barbuda 378 

BARBADOES. 

Section I. — Pauper Population '380 

II.— Stipendiary Administration of the Abolition, 

Law 380 

in.— Scale of Labour . . .382 

IV.— The late Governor , 384 

V. — Apprenticeship of Free Children .... 384 



CONTENTS. 



JAMAICA. 

Page 

Section I. — Priscilla Taylor 384 

II. — Halfway Tree Workhouse S85 

III. — Non-registered Slaves 386 

IV. — Statements of the Apprentices 388 

V. — James Williams . . . .■ 429 

VI. — Arcadia Estate 438 

VII.— Statistical Tables .439 

VIII.— The Baptist Mission 446 

IX.— William Hamilton . 447 

X. — Religious Instruction and Education . . . 450 

XI.^ — Valuations . . 451 

XII. — Marriages of Apprentices 453 

XIII.— A. L. Palmer 455 

XIV. — Computed Value of " Extra Allowances" 

in Extra Labour 458 



POSTSCRIPT. 

Reply to " Letters to Joseph Sturge, Esq., by William 
Alers Hankey, Esq." 460 



PREFACE. 



In order to explain the circumstances under which the inform- 
ation, detailed in this volume, was acquired, it is necessary 
to apprise the reader, that in the course of last year, one of 
the individuals, whose names appear on the title page, became 
anxious to ascertain, by personal inquiry, the results of the 
Imperial Abolition Act in the British West India Colonies. 
To such an investigation he was impelled, not merely by the 
inconsistent and contradictory statements received from the 
West Indies, but by observing the ambiguous character of the 
Heport of the Parliamentary Committee ; a document which 
bears strong indications of having emanated from a tribunal, 
in which the accused parties were themselves judges. 

Having consulted several friends, on whose judgment he 
could depend, and having completed the arrangements for the 
proposed mission, he embarked for the West Indies, accom- 
panied by John Scoble and Thomas Harvey.*— Wilham Lloyd, 

* It may not be uninteresting to the general reader to know, that, 
with the exception of John Scoble, the whole party consisted of mem- 
bers of the Society of Friends. The following is an extract from a 
volume entitled, ' ' Christianity and Slavery ; in a course of Lectures 
])reached at the Cathedral and Parish Church of St. Michael, Barba- 
does, by Edward Eliot, B. D. Archdeacon of Barbadoes."— (Hatchard, 
1833.) ** While the first settlers and planters in this colony were 
impressed with the importance of a religious establishment, .... 
they appear to have been altogether regardless of the duty which de- 
volved more immediately on their ministers, but which was imperative 
also on themselves, of preaching or publishing the Gospel to the imported 

African slaves In the few instances, where the endeavour 

was made by proprietors to Christianise their slaves, according to their 



PREFACE. ^11 

M.D. was also of the party ; not as directly connected with 
their object, though affording his co-operation in carr}ang it 
into effect. The undertaking, throughout, was entirely inde- 
pendent of any Anti- Slavery Society. The party were not, in 
any sense of the word, agents, but private persons ; yet en- 
gaged in what was properly a pubhc object. The expenses of 
the individual with whom the design originated, were defrayed 
by himself; and those of two others, his professed associates, 
were liberally borne by a few fi'iends, 'who felt a deep interest 
in the result of the inquiry. 

Soon after their anival at Barbadoes, Dr. Lloyd and John 
Scoble sailed for British Guiana ; and the latter subsequently 
returned to England, being the bearer of important informa- 
tion respecting the present state of Slavery in the Colonies 
comprised in that province. The present volume relates prin- 
cipally to Antigua and .Jamaica. The first of these important 
islands is now a scene of new and distinct interest ; as affording 
practical evidence of the safet}- and rising prosperity, conse- 
quent on immediate and complete Emancipation. Jamaica 
was investigated with a solicitude due to the anomalous condi- 
tion of the largest negro population in the British West Indies. 
To these islands the public attention is thus more emphatically 
invited . 

Should it be objected, that in the following Narrative, 
details of a nature, tending, in certain instances, to the dis- 
credit of personal character, have been disclosed, it may be 
pleaded, that such information has a most important bearing 
upon the great question; and that it was legitimately acquired. 
The object of the visitors was perfectly understood in the 
islands ; and it was known that the results would, or might be, 
unreservedly published on their return. No facts, however, 
are stated, which were originally related on any condition of 

own belief and form of worship, the opposition to the measure was so 
strong, that it led to repeated prohibitory laws, some of wbich possess 
the harshest features of persecution. ■ I allude to the pious, though un- 
successful exertions of the early colonists of the Society of Friends. 
Theirs is the praise of having first attempted, amidst obloquy and suf- 
fering, to preach the Gospel in this island to the heathen African slave." 
-(pp. 11, 12.) 



Vlll PREFACE. 

secrecy ; and where confidence was even implied, it has not 
been consciously violated. Fidelity to their object has alone 
directed them, in placing any of the following details on record. 
They are not aware that any hostile feeling has mingled itself 
with their better motives. It would indeed have been far 
more agreeable to their feelings to have used the language of 
praise rather than of reprehension ; for they entertain a warm 
and grateful sense of the courtesy, kindness, and hospitality, 
with which they were treated in the colonies, by planters, 
public functionaries, and ministers of rehgion. 

How far those who thus offer the present volume to pubHc 
examination, have accomplished their proposed object, is left to 
the decision of competent judges. In this point of view alone, 
they invite, and indeed claim attention. To any practised 
skill in literary composition, they do not pretend. It is the 
subject to vdiich they are desirous of attracting even a nation's 
regard. They are actuated by an anxiety deeper than can be 
expressed, to awaken the public mind to its importance ; and 
to stimulate the benevolent, the Christian patriot, to lively 
sympathy, and to animated exertion in behalf of the oppressed. 

It may surprise many to be assured, that their subsequent 
details are stated with moderation ; and that a vast mass of 
facts is yet in reserve, capable, not only of confirming what is 
now narrated, but of deepening the shades of their darkest 
representations. The reader's consideration is particularlv 
directed to the Appendix, as containing information, collected 
with considerable labour, and carefully compiled. The writers 
much regret the circumstances of haste under which this pub- 
lication has been prepared. But the case admits no delay ; 
and they therefore cast the fruit of their investigation, like 
bread upon the waters, with the hope that a blessing may ac- 
company it ; and that it may promote, in however small a 
degree, the glory of God, and the happiness of that injured, 
oppressed, and still enslaved portion of their fellow-men and 
fellow-subjects, who have been the objects of their labours, 
anxieties, and prayers. 

llth Month, 30th (November) 1837. 



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



From the rapidity with which the first edition of this Work 
has been exhausted, the Authors trust they may infer, that 
the condition of the enslaved Negroes is yet a subject of deep 
and general interest. To the present impression are added 
Maps of the Leeward Islands and of Jamaica, and the refer- 
ences to the Appendix have been rendered more convenient. 
To this portion of the publication, as not the least important, 
they would again solicit the reader's attention ; and it is now 
printed in larger type. 

In the present position of the Anti- slavery question, it may 
be proper to state, that soon after Joseph Sturge returned to 
England, he was examined several days before a Committee of 
the House of Commons, and that the substance of his evidence 
is comprised in this volume. Before his examination con- 
cluded, he tendered to the Committee a memorandum of the 
reasons which induced him to place reliance on the authenti- 
city of those important statements which rest not on his own 
authority as an eye-witness, but on the testimony of the 
apprentices ; and he recorded in that document his " firm 
and deliberate conviction, that that testimony, in all its main 
features, is incontrovertibly true." 

William Burge, the agent for Jamaica, who was present 
during the examination, objected to the publication of the 
evidence, as tending to discredit the character of his consti- 
tuents. In accordance with his views, the Committee resolved 
that the evidence should not be published. At his own sug- 
gestion, however, they directed " that Mr. Burge be allowed 
to communicate the charges advanced in the evidence taken 
before the Committee, to the parties implicated, with the 
understanding that the names of the informants were to be 
withheld ; and that such communication on his part should be 
strictly limited, in each several case, to those affected by that 
case, with the assurance taken from them, that the information 
is not to go beyond themselves." The Agent was also sup- 
plied with a copy of the evidence, though an application from 
Joseph Sturge for the same privilege was not complied with. 

In a subsequent communication to the Committee of Corre- 
spondence in Jamaica, William Burge enumerated about twenty 
heads, under which the evidence of Joseph Sturge might be 



X PREFACE. 

classed, comprising in his catalogue the most obvious abuses 
of the Apprenticeship. It cannot be pleaded, therefore, that 
the parties implicated were unacquainted with the general 
tenour of Joseph Sturge's statements ; and it will scarcely be 
doubted, that had there been even a distant probabihty of 
shaking their credibility, the accused parties would have 
eagerly grasped at the opportunity thus afforded of disproving 
his charges. No such attempt has been made. The evidence 
was duly sent out by the island Agent (pursuant to the extra- 
ordinary permission above stated) to the Committee of Cor- 
respondence ; by which body it was kept, to be referred to the 
House of Assembly, and by that House directed to be returned 
to this country, unopened. 

To this course the House was, no doubt, further impelled 
by the result of an inquiry, which had been ordered in the 
meantime by the Government at home, into the horrors dis- 
closed by the " Narrative of James Williams." That investiga- 
tion establishes the fact, that the statements in the present 
volume fall very far short of an adequate delineation of the 
sufferings of the negroes. The Authors have adduced proof 
that the Imperial Act has been generally, flagrantly, and sys- 
tematically violated ; that slavery still exists, and even that 
some of its worst features are aggravated under the new 
system : but they have been unable even to attempt to exhibit 
the extent and intensity of suffering which that system entails 
upon the negro. It will be observed, that the statements of 
James Williams, in the present volume, are more than con- 
firmed in the detailed history given in his separate "Narrative." 
Yet even that Narrative itself, as appears from the Report of 
the Commissioners, and from the statements of individuals 
who were present at the inquiry, is too faint a representation 
of the atrocities which actually exist. Now the Authors are 
fully persuaded, that if the other parts of their evidence had 
been subjected to the ordeal of a like searching inquiry, the 
result would have been, as in this distinct instance, a proof 
not only of their accuracy in substance, but, with "few and 
inconsiderable exceptions" in detail, establishing not only the 
soundness of their general conclusions, but bringing to hght 
cases of oppression far more numerous and more aggravated 
than it has been their painful duty to record. 



The Authors would also refer to the confirmation of their 
testimony afforded by various recent pubhcations, and particu- 
larly by the important pamphlet entitled, " Jamaica under the 
Apprenticeship System, by a Proprietor," (Andrews, New 
Bond Street.) This pubHcation contains internal evidence of 
having been composed by one personally, if not officially, con- 
nected with Jamaica. It makes, indeed, some concessions 
from which many will most decidedly dissent ; yet the writer's 
facts and observations must inevitably produce on every un- 
biassed reader the impression, that the Apprenticeship is 
vicious in its principle, and most cruel and oppressive in its 
practical operation, and that it admits of no remedy short of 
its utter extinction. If the " Proprietor" in question occupies, 
as is reported, one of the highest stations in patrician rank, it 
may be hoped that the oppressed negroes will experience the 
benefits of his intimate acquaintance with their condition, and 
of his able advocacy of their cause, in the first assembly of 
the empire. 

In conclusion, the Authors would observe, that an important 
point of their statements has been fully borne out by Sir Lionel 
Smith, in his message to the Assembly of Jamaica, dated 
October 29th, 1837. After enumerating grievances which 
loudly call for legislative redress, the Governor emphatically 
concludes with the observation, that " the island is subject to the 
reproach that the negroes, in some respects, are in a worse con- 
dition than they were in slavery." 

Since the publication of the first edition of this Work, a 
pamphlet, entitled, " Letters to Joseph Sturge, Esq., hy William 
Alers Hankey, Esq.,'' has appeared before the public. Although 
no attempt has been made to disprove the leading facts which 
had been advanced relative to the management of Arcadia 
estate, there are, nevertheless, some statements in the pamphlet 
which have induced the Authors to return to the subject at the 
end of the Appendix to the present edition, and at greater 
length, perhaps, than some may think desirable, on a question 
not so much afibcting the facts themselves, as to how far 
William A. Hankey or his agents were responsible for their 
occurrence. 

Third Month, 1th {March) 1838. 



VOYAGE 



FALMOUTH TO BARBADOES. 



We embarked at Falmouth, on board the Skylark Packet, 
commanded by Lieutenant C. P. Ladd, R.N., on the 17th of 
10th Month (October) 1836 ; and after a pleasant voyage, 
came in sight of land on the 12th of 11th Month (November.) 
Land was announced from the mast-head about eight o'clock 
A.M., and in three or four hours the dark outline of the 
eastern shore of Barbadoes was visible from the deck. We 
cast anchor in Carlisle Bay before midnight. On the follow- 
ing morning most of the passengers were on deck at sunrise ; 
some ready to greet the familiar appearance of a well-known 
shore, and others to receive the novel impressions of a tropical 
clime and country. The view of the town and Bay is very 
beautiful. Bridgetown extends almost from point to point, 
along two or three miles of a curved shore. The white 
houses are interspersed with cocoa-nut and palmetto trees. 
After leaving the vessel, we realised in our first brief hour on 
land, our earliest and probably our deepest impressions of the 
characteristic features of the country. The vegetation is 
wholly different from that of Europe. The larger trees are 
chiefly palms, and the smaller beautiful flowering shrubs. 
Many of the fences are composed of a gigantic species of 
cactus, the prickly pear. It seemed extraordinary to see the 
sickly exotics of an Enghsh conservatory, growing in such 
luxuriant vigour. Our feelings also were deeply interested in 
finding ourselves in the midst of a dark population. There 
were all shades of colour, from fair mulatto to black. We 
could not avoid being struck with the beautiful and intelligent 
countenances and European foreheads of many of the coloured 
children. 



CHAPTER I. 



BARBADOES. 

nth Month, pth, (November) 1836. 

The Sabbath. — We took up our quarters at Lewis's 
Hotel. An improved state of public opinion appears to 
have elevated this establishment to the level of European 
notions of propriety. The other principal hotels in 
Bridgetown are reported to be a standing reproach to 
the morals of the colony. 

The first appearance of West India houses is striking 
to a European. We were ushered into a spacious room, 
without carpet, or hangings for the w^all; these and 
many other things necessary to comfort and cleanliness 
in England, being here almost incompatible v/ith both. 
The doors and windows are usually kept wide open, and 
the partitions between the rooms and passages are some- 
times nothing more than jalousies, or framed Venetian 
blinds, so that the apartments are thoroughly ventilated 
by the constant current of air, which tempers the heat 
of the climate. Glass windows also are, to a great extent, 
superfluous; the jalousies being a sufficient protection 
from the weather. These arrangements are of course 
irreconcileable with the retirement which is so justly 
valued in our own country. 

The last few months have been unusually hot. The 
thermometer stood this morning at 86^ in our sitting 
room. One of our fellow-passengers, a resident for 
many years in the West Indies, told us he never felt it so 
oppressive. In the evening we went to the Wesleyan 
chapel, a spacious and elegant building, which was 
completely filled by a respectable and well-dressed con- 



2 BARBADOES. 

gregation. The white persons appeared to be in the 
proportion of one in fifteen. No distinction was 
observed in the seats. We were much struck with the 
silence and complete decorum which prevailed, and with 
the harmony of the singing, which was led by two or 
three black men, one of whom, we were informed, 
occasionally officiates as a local preacher. After the ser- 
vice, we had an interview with the excellent missionary 
who occupied the pulpit. His name is Moyster. He 
was formerly stationed on the African shore, near the post 
now occupied by Thomas Dove among the Foulahs. 

14th. — We made an excursion early this morning into 
the interior of the island. Barbadoes has rather a 
sterile aspect towards the coast, but our route was 
through a district in a high state of cultivation. The 
land was entirely occupied by cane grounds, fields of 
Guinea corn, plots of yams, &c. We saw several gangs 
of negroes at work with their hoes, under the superin- 
tendence of a driver, who having been deprived of his 
whip, now carries a staff as a badge of authority. The 
number of women seemed to preponderate. They 
were sufficiently clothed. Their huts are wretched 
little thatched hovels, crowded irregularly together. The 
views from the rising ground of the estates' buildings, 
the houses, with their avenues of cocoa palms, and the 
boiling houses, with their windmills, are often very pic- 
turesque. We called on our return at a Moravian 
mission station, to the minister of which. Brother 
Klose, we had a letter of introduction. He informed 
us that about fifteen hundred apprentices attend his 
chapel, of whom about one thousand are considered to 
be in membership. An infant school has been estab- 
lished on the premises. We observed some little children 
sitting on the steps of the school-house, although it was 
at least an hour too early. They often come, we were 
told, at six o'clock, when their parents go to the field. 



BARBADOES. 3 

Another school-house for the older children is about to 
be erected, partly with aid obtained from the govern- 
ment grant. 

In the course of the day John Scoble and Joseph 
Sturge met by appointment the superintendent of the 
Wesleyan mission, and another of their ministers. They 
professed themselves wilhng to aid our inquiries " as far 
as was consistent with their instructions from home." 
In effect, those instructions appeared to us to preclude 
their giving information as to the physical condition of 
the negroes. They fully confirmed our previous inform- 
ation, of the general desire of all classes of the appren- 
tices to learn ; and said that they made the best use of 
the opportunities within their reach. The cost of 
erecting school-houses of simple construction, capable 
of accommodating one hundred children, is about £25 
sterling, besides land, which averages from £30 to £50 
sterling per acre. There is no general disposition on the 
part of the planters to encourage education. The local 
legislature has not yet sanctioned the legality of dissent- 
ing marriages, so that difficulties in this respect have 
rather increased than decreased since 1834. Another 
individual whom we saw to-day, informed us that the 
mortality among the free children had been very great 
since 1834, particularly in the early part of the new era. 
This he attributed in part to the prevalence of measles 
and other epidemics. The children, however, had not 
proper attendance when sick, as their parents were 
usually compelled to repay the time they devoted to 
them. The planters expected the parents would appren- 
tice their children, and resorted to severe measures to 
compel them to do so ; but the mothers resisted to ex- 
tremity. It was at length found that it would not do to 
be so hard upon mothers. Some of the planters are now 
considerate, others severe. A great grievance to which 
negroes are subjected is, the practice of fining gangs in 



4 BARBADOES. 

time for bad work. If an overseer is, or pretends to be, 
dissatisfied, he calls in one or two persons to look at the 
work, and then summons his people before the magis- 
trate ; who mulcts the whole gang, idle and industrious 
together, in two, four, or even eight, of their Saturdays. 

It may here be mentioned, that we met in this island 
a missionary from Berbice, who informed us that the 
apprentices in that colony were in a wretched state. He 
considered the apprenticeship to be a complete failure. 
There was not and could not be a medium between 
slavery and personal freedom. The magistrates were in 
the hands of the planters. The governor was well- 
meaning, but very much in the dark as to the actual 
working of the system, as he formed his opinion on the 
official reports which he received. Very little is to be 
seen of the true state of the predial population of the 
colonies in or near the towns. The negroes are greatly 
defrauded of their time. Speaking of their desire for 
instruction, he said many of them would gladly fetch and 
bring back on their shoulders boys from his school to 
their own huts, a distance of three miles, in order to take 
a lesson from them in reading ; and that they were 
delighted when they could obtain his permission for their 
little teachers to remain ail night with them. 

Joseph Sturge and Thomas Harvey embarked this 
afternoon for Antigua in the mail-boat. 



Dr. Lloyd and John Scoble remained a day or two 
longer in Barbadoes before proceeding to Demerara. 
The following account of their visit to the jail at Bridge- 
town is given by the latter : — . 

" From the council chamber we proceeded to the jail 
yard, where were collected a large number of negroes 
employed in breaking stones. The male negroes are 
required to break thirty baskets a day — the women 
twenty-five baskets a day. The stones are very hard, 



BARBADOES. O 

and the hammers very soft; the consequence is, that 
it is a most laborious operation. In failure of their ap- 
pointed tasks, they are flogged, both male and female ! 
This I learned on the spot. Among the women thus 
employed was one very far advanced in pregnancy. I was 
very much pleased to learn that some of the more power- 
ful negroes would break a few more baskets than their 
required amount, and gave their surplus to the weaker, 
to save them a flogging. From this part of the yard we 
proceeded to the back of the prison to inspect the tread- 
mill. It was going when we reached it — fifteen male 
negroes of difierent ages, from boys to men, were on it, 
and the cat was in constant requisition on their sides, 
shoulders, and legs, to keep them up to their work ; and 
even when the miserable creatures kept step properly, if 
they did not tread down they were flogged. On the top 
of the tread-mill were a number of negroes who secured 
the arms of those that were too weak to hold on by the 
rail. The usual time for them to be on the tread-mill 
is ten minutes. From the mill we proceeded to the jail. 
The first room we entered was about thirty by thirty- 
five feet, in which one hundred and ten negroes are at 
present obliged to herd together from four in the after- 
noon until next morning ; how they can live in such an 
atmosphere as must be created by so large a number 
of persons being congregated together in a tropical 
climate, I cannot tell. — The next apartment visited was 
about half the size. There were confined in it thirty- 
five males, committed for various felonies. The jailer 
informed me that some negroes were incarcerated 
there twelve months previous to trial, and are then 
discharged without it. Often, when it is inconvenient 
for the prosecutor to appear, or he does not choose to 
appear, cases are adjourned to the next sessions, a 
period of six months. How iniquitous a system is 
this ! We returned back to the tread-mill. The women 
were then on ; such a sight I never saw before ; they 

B 3 



b BARBADOES. 

were dressed in coarse dowlas, descending from the hips 
like trowsers, below the knees, and upwards to the bosom, 
leaving the neck exposed, fitting close round the body. 
The arms from below the shoulders bare, the legs bare 
also. The heads shaved quite close, with a handker- 
chief tied round them. They were up for ten minutes, 
and had been up during the morning four times before, 
and were to be put up twice after we left. No difference 
w'hatever was made between them as to the amount of 
punishment. When w^e arrived, they had been up about 
three minutes, and the brutal driver was flogging them 
with the cat with as much severity as he had previously 
flogged the men ; he cut them wherever he listed, and 
as often as he pleased. We were dreadfully shocked, 
but determined to witness the whole proceeding. On 
the mill there was a mulatto woman, perhaps about thirty, 
dreadfully exhausted — indeed, she could not step any 
more, although she had been on only a few minutes. 
The driver flogged her repeatedly, and she as often 
made the attempt to tread the mill, but nature was worn 
out. She was literally suspended by the bend of the 
elbow of one arm, a negro holding down the wrist at 
the top of the mill for some minutes ; and her poor legs 
knocking against the revolving steps of the mill until her 
blood marked them. There she hung, groaning, and 
anon received a cut from the driver, to which she 
appeared almost indifferent. When the ten minutes 
were up, the negro above released her arm, and she fell 
on the floor utterly unable to support herself, and at 
last managed to stagger out of the place. Her sufferings 
must have been terrible. But she was not the only one 
who suffered ; a black girl, apparently about eighteen, was 
equally exhausted. When we arrived she w^as moaning 
piteously. Her moans were answered by the cut of the 
whip. She endeavoured again and again to tread the 
mill, but w^as utterly unable. She had lost all power, 
and hung, in the same helpless way with the mulatto 



BARBADOES. 7 

woman, suspended by the left arm, held on by the wrist 
by the negro above. The bend of the arm passed over 
the rail, and the wrist was held down tightly, so that 
she could not alter her position, or get the least ease by 
moving. It was most affecting to hear her appeals to 
the driver, ' Sweet massa, do pity me — do, sweet massa, 
pity me — my arm is broke.' Her entreaties to be 
relieved were answered by cuts from the whip, and threats 
that did she not cease to make a noise, he w^ould have 
her down and flog her. The fear that he would carry 
this threat into execution led her to suppress her feelings 
as well as she could. I then engaged the attention of 
the driver in a conversation, and managed to place 
him towards me in such a position that he could not see 
the mill, and by a multitude of questions, occupied 
about two minutes of the time, until the glass had run 
down ; thus saving the poor creature any more flogging. 
When let go, she sank on the ground exhausted, but 
managed shortly after to crawl away from the scene of 
her suffering. Dr. Lloyd and I went shortly after to 
that part of the mill where the women are kept; the 
whole of them were in a state of profuse perspiration, 
and scarcely able to speak. We examined the legs of 
the mulatto woman, and found them shockingly bruised, 
the skin in one part about the size of a dollar torn away. 
The poor black girl had lost the skin off* the bend of her 
arm, and was suffering dreadfully from the cramp. In 
reference to the latter female, I observed the driver cut 
her across the naked ankles, leaving the mark of his cat 
visible. I spoke a few kind words, which greatly affected 
them. Thus, then, it appears, that in Barbadoes women 
committed to the tread-miU are catted ad libitum; the 
driver's feelings alone being the rule which governs him 
in the use of his scourge. During the whole time these 
scenes were transacting, the Barbadoes Legislature were 
holding their Sessions within thirty yards of the tread- 
mill." 



CHAPTER II. 



VOYAGE TO ANTIGUA. 

nth Month, Uth, (November) 1836. 

One of our fellow passengers is from Demerara, and 
has with him two negroes. He informs us that he is 
buying out, in different colonies, the time of such ap- 
prentices as are disposed to emigrate to Demerara. 

15th. — The first island at which we touch is St. Lucia, 
Early this morning we were in sight of it, and also of St. 
Vincent, and Martinique. St. Lucia is one cluster of 
mountains, covered to their very summits with trees and 
brushwood. It is impassable except on foot or horseback. 
The cane and coffee grounds are situated in the fertile 
gorges and ravines. With a telescope we could discover 
many of the houses of the planters, their sugar works, 
and negro villages. The outlines of the mountains are 
remarkably bold ; an effect partly owing to the clear- 
ness of the atmosphere. Clouds are always floating 
about or resting on some of the summits ; but rain and 
mist, although frequent, are of almost momentary dura- 
tion. A peculiar feature of the island is its three 
conical hills, called the pitons, or sugar loaves, one of 
which is inaccessible. The mail-boat stopped for an 
hour at the port of Castries, which gave us an oppor- 
tunity of seeing the town. Like Bridgetown, it is dirty, 
straggling, and disagreeable. The English West India 
towns, judging from these specimens, are very ill con- 
structed for the purposes of health in such a climate. 

Most of the vessels we have seen have been sloops, 
bringing supplies of cattle and mules from Porto Rico to 
the French and English islands. Barbadoes is the only 



VOYAGE TO ANTIGUA. V 

considerable English colony which raises provisions and 
stock enough for its own consumption and for export; 
and to this its superior prosperity is mainly owing. St. 
Lucia, and most of the other islands, notwithstanding 
their boundless fertility, are dependent, to a deplorable 
extent, on imported supplies ; so that one or two succes- 
sive seasons of short crops and low prices of produce 
occasion a general depression, as the out-goings of the 
planters are large and constant. 

16th.' — Martinique is in sight of St. Lucia. We 
passed the celebrated Diamond rock about sunset. This 
morning, when we came on deck, we were in full view of 
the beautiful bay and town of St. Pierre. Martinique 
is one of the finest of the lesser Antilles. Its mountains 
are higher than those of St. Lucia, and it possesses, also, 
a considerable extent of fine table land, which, with the 
sides of the ravines, and every accessible and many 
apparently inaccessible spots, is brought into cultivation. 
We could distinguish several very numerous gangs of 
negroes at work in the cane fields. The town of St. 
Pierre has an aspect of comfort and opulence. A line 
of tamarind trees runs along the beach. The streets are 
built in two or three long ranges parallel with the shore. 
They are shaded by the height of the houses, and kept 
cool by a stream of water perpetually gurgling down a 
stone channel in the centre. The town is abundantly 
supplied with this luxurious element. It is built on a 
narrow strip of land, which is almost overhung by 
mountains rising immediately behind it. The black 
population were well dressed, and seemed to share the 
general prosperity. A casual visitor of the ports of these 
islands, where slavery prevails in its unmitigated form, 
might be easily misled as to the character of the system 
by the appearance of the population. 

We reached Dominica in about four hours from St. 
Pierre. It presents a still bolder and more precipitous 



10 VOYAGE TO 

wall of mountains to the sea than Martinique or St. 
Lucia ; and, as in those islands, many spots are cultivated, 
from which it is difficult to conceive how the produce 
can be conveyed. It is the most subject to hurricanes 
of all the islands, and during the last few years has 
suffered from the prevalence of a coffee blight. Coffee, 
which used to be its staple, is now being fast supplanted 
by sugar. We landed at Roseau about sunset, in a 
canoe manned by free blacks, which shot through the 
water at the rate of six or seven miles an hour. There 
were crowds of black and coloured people on the beach, 
jabbering in their French patois. The little knot of 
whites were very angry that the mails should be landed 
in such confusion ; and displayed a bitter spirit towards 
the free blacks, whom they stigmatized as thieves, brutes, 
skulking drones, &c., &c. The aspect of the town of 
Roseau is very foreign. 

17th. — We were all night becalmed under the lee of 
Dominica. The principal ports of these islands are 
situated on their western or south-western coasts to the 
leeward, which renders the navigation from one to 
another, in sailing vessels, very tedious and uncertain. 
A breeze this morning soon carried us to Guadaloupe, 
but left us again under the lee of that island ; so that we 
%ere some hours toiling to Basseterre. Guadaloupe is 
less beautiful than Martinique, and did not appear to us 
so highly cultivated. The town of Basseterre is situated 
near its south-western extremity, on extensive lowlands, 
sloping gradually upwards to the basis of an amphitheatre 
of mountains. We availed ourselves, as usual, of the 
opportunity of landing for a few minutes. The principal 
street is wide and enlivened by fountains. An avenue 
of beautiful tamarind trees runs down its whole length, 
under which the inhabitants meet to spend their even- 
ings. The number of military, officers of customs, 
guarda castas^ &c., to be seen here and at Martinique, 



ANTIGUA. 11 

marks the difference between the French colonial system 
and our own. We saw^ few white people in Guadaloupe. 
The prejudice against colour is probably not so strong 
as in our own islands, as we observed several persons, 
white, brown, and black, working together on a tailor's 
board : we witnessed, however, a specimen of barbarism 
which we had not expected to find— several copper- 
coloured boys in a boat in an entire state of nudity ; they 
were of Spanish- Indian and negro blood. 

18th. — We were again yesterday becalmed under the 
lee of Guadaloupe. To a lover of the picturesque, who 
had no stronger impulse to carry him onward, a detention 
amidst this beautiful archipelago of islands would be 
delightful. The hills, of ronud, conical, and irregular 
figures, rising abruptly from the ocean, and cleft into the 
most romantic gorges and ravines, are covered with 
perennial verdure, and clothed to their summits with 
primeval forest: they are evidently of volcanic origin. 
In St. Vincent there is still an active volcano, and in 
several of the other islands are hot springs and souffrieres. 
This morning we passed near Montserrat, and several of 
the smaller islands, and saw the mountains of Nevis and 
St. Kitt's in the distance. We at length made Antigua, 
and after some hours spent in tacking and beating about 
with a contrary wind, succeeded in entering the harbour of 
St. John's ; which, though of difficult access, is spacious 
and secure. Here, as elsewhere, the black and coloured 
population find employment in great numbers in fishing 
and pilot boats. We bought a quantity of fish from one 
of their boats, of brilliant colours, such as we have little 
idea of in Europe. One of them was barred with a rain- 
bow, covered with green spots, with fins and tail painted 
in green and red stripes. As we approached the island, 
we could hear at a distance of one or two miles, the 
shrill, constant, ringing noise of insects and reptiles. We 
landed at St. John's late in the evening:. 



12 VOYAGE TO 

Our fellow-passenger from Demerara, above-men- 
tioned, was engaged in a traffic which has not been 
inappropriately termed in these islands the Demerara 
slave-trade. He was a man of insinuating address, well 
informed and intelligent, and appeared to be on terms 
of intimacy with persons of respectability in the different 
islands. He spoke of the object he was pursuing without 
any reserve or concealment, and even furnished us with 
some documentary information respecting it. He in- 
formed us that the labour of unattached predials is worth 
from five-sixths of a dollar to a dollar per day in Deme- 
rara. The cost of their maintenance is less than half a 
dollar per week. They work seven and a half hours per 
diem for six days in the week. In answer to our inquiries, 
how the amount of labour was ascertained which a negro 
could perform in seven and a half hours, he said they knew 
pretty well " what was the most that they could get out 
of them." The apprentices may leave work after the 
seven and a half hours are out, unless they choose to work 
in their extra time, which they frequently do at a low 
rate. The estates in Demerara are generally on a larger 
scale than in the other colonies. One with 250 negroes 
will yield a revenue of about £4000 sterling annually. 
The negroes are very fond of living near town, and on 
this account he thinks the distant estates will have to be 
abandoned after 1840. The governor. Sir J. C. Smyth, 
was determined to enforce the Abolition Law, and there- 
fore, he said, " we don't like him." He spoke highly of 
the liberality of the British Government in the matter 
of compensation, " You may depend upon it," he said, 
"though few like to acknowledge it, it has been the 
salvation of nine-tenths of us." He knew thirty or 
forty planters whose mortgages would have been fore- 
closed ere this, had not the question been settled at the 
time and in the way it was. He informed us that he had 
imported into Demerara three cargoes of labourers. 



ANTIGUA. 13 

consisting either of free persons from Antigua, or ap- 
prentices, whose time he had purchased from the other 
colonies. They were all indented to himself for a 
longer or shorter period, and were principally domestic 
servants or handicraft labourers. He would have pre- 
ferred predials, but they were more difficult to obtain. 
His present object was to collect eighty predial labour- 
ers at Tortola, in order to take them to Demerara. The 
expense of transport and maintenance averages nearly 
twenty dollars per head. Of the two negroes who were 
on board, one was his personal servant, and appeared to 
us to be employed in the respectable vocation of a 
decoy ; the other was a young man about eighteen, whose 
time he had purchased at Barbadoes for the low price of 
forty-eight dollars. His former master did not like him, 
nor he his master ; indeed, the youth's wish to emigrate 
was so strong that he had indented himself for more than 
the four years yet remaining of the apprenticeship. Of the 
previous importations, fourteen had been obtained from 
Nevis, who had cost him on the average eighty dollars 
each ; a few also from St. Kitts, where the disposition 
to emigrate is very great ; and though at present it is 
successfully resisted by the planters, he thinks the island 
will be nearly depopulated after 1840. Besides these he 
had obtained labourers from Montserrat and Antigua. 
From two lists, with which he furnished us, of names and 
other particulars, it appeared that he had bought at 
Montserrat the term of apprenticeship of thirty field 
labourers and one domestic, at various rates, of from fifty 
to one hundred dollars each. Small sums of from one 
to four dollars were paid to them in advance as pre- 
sents, and they were indented till August 1st, 1840, 
under an agreement to receive two dollars per month 
wages. In Antigua he had induced thirty-two negroes 
of both sexes, carpenters, sailors, house-servants, and a 
few field-labourers, to indent themselves for various 



14 VOYAGE TO 

periods of one to four years, at a rate of wages of three 
to seven dollars per month, and generally on higher 
terms after the first year. The various amounts 
advanced to them were to be deducted from their earn- 
ings. The indenture stipulated that the servant " shall 
perform all lawful hours of assiduous labour for the full 

term of years ; all sick and absent days to be made 

good ;" and that the master, besides the specified amount 
of wages, shall supply "food, clothing, and medical 
attendance, according to the usages of the colony of 
British Guiana." In order to obviate the inconvenience 
of this singularly vague document being disputed, the 
local authorities of Demerara have passed an ordinance 
declaring such agreement valid, whether executed in 
that or in any other British or Foreign Colony, in the 
presence of a magistrate or otherwise, and by any negro 
of the age of fifteen years or upwards. A statement of 
the cost of negroes thus conveyed to Demerara, deducted 
from the profit of their labour as apprenticed field- 
labourers, and allowing one-fourth for casualties, shows 
a profit upon each of upwards of £100 sterling; an in- 
ducement sufficiently strong to give a great impulse to 
this revived form of the slave-trade. Our informant 
complained bitterly of the opposition of the authorities of 
Antigua. He said that the labourers of that colony 
were in a wretched condition ; and yet those who wished 
to emigrate, were impeded by fictitious charges of breach 
of contract, and other obstacles thrown in their way by 
the planters. 

The following occurrence, as we were entering the 
harbour of St. John's, threw a little light on the senti- 
ments of some of the coloured people of that island, on 
this kind of emigration. A fine intelligent young man 
came on board, to offer us the use of his boat. Our 
fellow-passenger, who seemed to know every body, 
immediately addressed him : " Do you know * * *?" 



ANTIGUA. 15 

"Yes, sir." " Where is she now?" "I don't know, sir." 
" Well, I can tell you ; she is in Demerara." " I hope 
so, sir." " Now do you believe she is in Demerara, or 
on the Spanish Main?" "I don't know, sir; that's a 
delicate question, sir." In the course of the preceding 
dialogue, he turned to us and said, that an idea was 
entertained, that the emigrants were taken to the Spanish 
Main and sold as slaves. We do not perceive that 
they have any security against being carried to New 
Orleans, Cuba, Porto Rico, or some part of the Spanish 
Main, and there sold as slaves, other than the enormous 
profit which is made by the safer speculation of carrying 
them to Demerara, and selling them there to the highest 
bidder as apprentices. 



CHAPTER III. 



ANTIGUA. 



nth Month, 20th, (November) 1836. 

The Sabbath. — ^We went this morning to the Mo- 
ravian chapel. The congregation consisted of from 
six to eight hundred black and coloured persons; a 
large proportion of whom appeared to belong to the 
predial class. Their attention and silence were strik- 
ing, and their dresses remarkable for neatness and 
simplicity. The singing and chaunting were very har- 
monious. In looking over a congregation of blacks, it 
is not difficult to lose the impression of their colour. 
There is among them the same diversity of counte- 
nance and complexion as among Europeans; and it 
is doing violence to one's own feelings, to suppose for 
a moment that they are not made of the same blood as 
ourselves. There is only one white person, besides 
the ministers and their families, who is a member of 
the Moravian church in Antigua, — Joseph Phillips; 
who is known in England in connexion with the Anti- 
Slavery cause. There were, however, present several 
other whites ; besides some who bear very slight traces, 
either in complexion or feature, of their African de- 
scent. After the service we were introduced to the 
minister, Bennet Harvey, and to several other per- 
sons. The mission premises are rather extensive. 
The buildings are of wood, very complete, and nicely 
arranged. The grave-yard, which is undistinguished 
by mounds, tombstones, or monuments, is planted with 
cocoa-nut trees, and enclosed with palings and a fence 
of the great American aloe. We noticed a considerable 
number of negroes, men and women, near one of the 



ANTIGUA. 17 

doors of the chapel, waiting their examination as candi- 
dates for communion. Another body of them was col« 
lected about a large round building, used as a rain-water 
cistern, drinking the pure element from a calabash. 

Antigua is dependent on the heavens for its supplies 
of water. There are only two or three wells in the 
island which are not brackish. We looked into the Sun- 
day-school. The attendance was not numerous, as the 
morning had been rainy. A class of little girls were 
called out to read to us, which they did very nicely, and 
answered their teacher's questions with vivacity and in- 
telligence. In the course of the afternoon and evening, 
one of us attended the parish church and Wesleyan 
chapel. In each case, the congregation was nearly as 
numerous as the Moravian. They exhibited much more 
gaiety of dress, especially at the former ; but the dis- 
tinction in seats seemed to be regulated at least as much 
by the aristocracy of wealth as colour. 

22nd. — We waited this morning upon the Governor, 
Lieutenant Colonel Light, who received us very cour- 
teously, and kindly offered his assistance in the prosecu- 
tion of our inquiries. He spoke very favourably of the 
working of the new system, observing that the expense 
of cultivating estates was less than formerly, and that 
the labourers were more industrious. He did not, how- 
ever, consider that the improvement in the morals of the 
people was co-extensive with their opportunities of in- 
struction. He stated that much good had been done 
by the Benefit Societies, formed in connexion with the 
different religious communities. The Governor's secre- 
tary, (pro. tem.,) who introduced us, is an agreeable, in- 
telligent young man of colour. 

We afterwards visited the day school of the Mora- 
vians. There were about one hundred and sixty child- 
ren present, an attendance rather smaller than the 
average. Part of them belonged to the infant school, 

c 3 



18 ANTIGUA. 

which is held in a detached building, from ten o'clock 
till twelve daily. They were now sitting round the 
room, waiting for their elder brothers and sisters, who 
attend school two hours later. We were disappointed 
to find that not more than one eighth of the children 
could read in the Testament. Their teacher informed 
us that they were very backward also in arithmetic. 
We saw some of their copy-books, a few of which were 
nicely written. In conclusion, a number of the scholars 
recited some passages of Scripture, and the whole school 
sung a hymn before breaking up, exercises which they 
performed very well. Dreadful evils are occasioned to 
some of these scholars, from the lax morals of a part of 
the white inhabitants of the colony. Within the last 
three months, three girls have left the school in conse- 
quence of having formed improper connexions with white 
men. The last instance was one of their most promising 
scholars, a girl about seventeen, who, it is believed, was 
sacrificed by her mother for gain. The authority of 
parents is much greater among the negroes than in 
Europe, and it is sometimes thus horribly abused. 

On our return, we visited the cells in which criminal 
slaves were formerly confined. They appeared suffi- 
ciently spacious and airy, and are now occupied by oiFen- 
ders against the police laws. In one of them was a little 
coloured boy, about eight years old, who had been put 
in for the night by one of the police, solely at the re- 
quest of his mother, w^hom he had displeased. We learn 
that considerable distress prevails among the aged and 
infirm part of the population. When the Abolition Bill 
was passed, a number of these were superannuated and 
pensioned on the different estates; but the provision 
made for them is too often totally inadequate to their 
maintenance. We heard to-day of a poor woman who 
was allowed only a dog, which is about three farthings 
sterling, per day, from the estate on which she had 
spent her youth and strength as a slave. 



ANTIGUA. 19 

23rd. — In the course of a morning's ride, we saw 
many estates, and gangs of negroes at work. The usual 
employment was digging cane-holes with the hoe, which 
is very severe labour. The overlookers, as the ci devant 
drivers are now called, had no sticks of office ; except 
such of them as carried a staff, to denote that they were 
rural constables. One of the most intelligent negroes 
on each estate is usually invested with this authority. 
Our guide, an intelligent black, told us that the people 
worked as well as formerly ; but that many of the women 
did not now come into the field before breakfast, as they 
staid at home to prepare the morning meal for their hus- 
bands and children. In these cases they receive wages 
only for three quarters of a day. The huts we saw 
looked larger and more comfortable than in Barbadoes, 
but they are clustered together in a way that must im- 
pede ventilation, and be injurious to health. The sites 
of the villages are often badly chosen. 

The last fifteen months, in Antigua, have been a 
time of extreme drought, a visitation to which the 
island is periodically subject. The coming crop, there- 
fore, will fall considerably short of an average. Many 
fields of canes have arrowed^ as the flowering of the 
plant is technically termed, which shows that they have 
reached a too rapid maturity. We called in the course 
of the day upon James Cox, the Superintendent of the 
Wesleyan Mission, who kindly promised to give us 
information respecting the state of education, &c. 
among their members. In the course of a general con- 
versation, he told us that he thought the most san- 
guine expectations of abolitionists had been realised in 
Antigua, He did not think there was a man in the 
island who would be willing to return to slavery. He 
presented us with a catechism on civil, moral, and so- 
cial duties, drawn up by their missionaries, and printed 
by the legislature for general circulation. On looking 
it over, we find that what it contains is very excellent, 



20 ANTIGUA. 

and largely supported by Scripture quotations. Fifteen 
pages, however, are devoted to the inculcation of subor- 
dination, and other duties of the lower classes, and 
one page only to the duties of the upper classes, an 
inequality which we hope will disappear in future 
editions ; as ignorance, and the imperfect performance 
of relative duties, are quite as prevalent among 'Jhe 
latter as the former. A minister from another part 
of the island, who was present, informed us, in reply 
to our inquiries, that the old and infirm people were 
not supported on all the estates, and on some received 
but a miserable pittance. We called upon several 
other persons in the course of the morning. One of 
them gave us some interesting information respecting 
the passing of the Abolition Bill, by the local legisla- 
ture. It appears that the proprietors of Antigua de- 
serve less credit than they claim for this beneficent 
measure. It was first proposed at a meeting of pro- 
prietors, by a planter, who produced statements to show, 
that under a free system he would have to pay wages to 
one third only of the negroes whom he should be re- 
quired to support as apprentices; and that he could 
work his estates equally well by free labour, at a less 
expense. The proposition excited some commotion at 
first. The cry was raised that he was betraying the 
secrets of the planters, and that if this came to the ears 
of government, they would get no compensation. A 
persuasion, however, of the superiority of the free sys- 
tem gained ground in future discussions, and now the 
most bigoted adherents of slavery acknowledge that free 
labour is best and cheapest. 

24th. — We called this morning upon a gentleman who 
had kindly introduced himself, and offered to give us 
information on the cultivation of the island. He is the 
Town Agent for a large number of estates, and a resi- 
dent of thirty years' standing. His intelligence, experi- 



ANTIGUA. 21 

ence, and piety, give great weight to his statements. 
He furnished us with calculations and comparative state- 
ments, to which we shall have hereafter occasion to 
allude. We called subsequently at the mission station 
of the brethren, where we found brother Morrish from 
the interior. While we were sitting with them, an old 
man came for relief. He was a member of their church, 
and appeared to be upwards of eighty years of age, and 
quite blind. He said that he was allowed only six pints 
of corn-meal a week from the estate, and that last week 
he did not get even that. These poor and destitute 
persons are relieved, in part, out of a sum annually sup- 
plied by some charitable persons in London, who are 
unconnected with the island, and of whom Bennet Har- 
vey is the almoner ; and in part also out of the funds of 
two Benefit Societies in St. John's, existing in connex- 
ion with the Moravian church. These institutions, one 
of which is composed of town and the other of country 
members, are formed like the English Friendly Socie- 
ties, for the purpose of securing a fund available for the 
members in sickness and old age. The setting aside a 
portion of the fund for the benefit of those who do not 
contribute to it, is, however, a feature of benevolence 
peculiar to the subscribers. Besides administering ca- 
sual relief, the committee of the Town Benefit Society 
have established a hospital on the mission premises, con- 
sisting of a number of small, moveable, wooden houses, 
in which are supported twelve persons, who are unable 
to work from age or disease. We went to see this in- 
teresting establishment. Several of its inmates are af- 
flicted with the dreadful diseases of leprosy and elephan- 
tiasis ; their loathsome condition cannot shut them out 
from the active and benevolent sympathies of a society, 
whose members were nearly all slaves three years ago. 
On our return we visited the jail, and House of Correc- 
tion, which consist of contiguous buildings and pre- 



22 ANTIGUA. 

mises ; twenty-eight are now waiting their trial, of whom 
twelve are for sheep-stealing, which is felony. Of minor 
oiFences, cane stealing or breaking, constitutes a very 
large proportion. Of the prisoners who are undergoing 
punishment, about eighty are employed in a penal gang 
on the public roads. They do not work in chains, with 
the exception of five or six whose sentences of death 
have been commuted, and require only a very slight 
superintendence. The refractory are punished by being 
put upon the tread-mill on their return at night. Some 
petty offenders were breaking stones in the court-yard. 
We observed a little boy of eight years old, who was 
committed, as we afterwards learned, for stealing a single 
cane, whilst passing through the fields on his way to town 
on an errand. For this he was sentenced to pay a fine 
of seven dollars, and, in default of payment, to imprison- 
ment and hard labour. Not to speak of the impolicy of 
making a criminal of such a child as this, the fine im- 
posed is equivalent to his earnings for about three 
months, and is about a hundred and twenty times more 
than the value of the property stolen. The situation of 
these buildings is very cool and airy, and the rooms are 
spacious and clean. The prisoners are usually allowed 
ninepence currency per diem for their support, which, 
in consideration of the present scarcity, has been in- 
creased to tenpence, which is laid out for them by the 
Superintendent. A chapel has recently been fitted up 
in one of the upper rooms, in which service is performed 
by the Rector of St. John's, early in the morning of the 
Sabbath. 

We had a conversation in the evening with two of 
the Moravian missionaries, to whose society nearly half 
the labouring population of the island belongs. About 
nine-tenths of their people are negroes. They are mem- 
bers by birthright, unless they forfeit their privileges by 
misconduct; but all are actually under the superintend- 



ANTIGUA. 23 

ence and religious care of the missionaries. The chapels 
are not sufficiently numerous to hold all their members, 
who are therefore compelled to attend, as it were, on 
alternate Sabbaths. Not more than two or three of 
their people are qualified to assist them in their schools. 
Infant schools, in their opinion, are much better cal- 
culated than any other institutions to raise the character 
of the next generation ; as well as, by bringing them up 
together from childhood under the same course of dis- 
cipline, to extinguish the prejudice of caste, which exists 
between the coloured and black population. The dispo- 
sition of the negroes is decidedly pacific ; yet the Christ- 
mas following the 1st of August, 1834, was the first for 
thirty years that had been celebrated without the pro- 
clamation of martial law. Since emancipation, ten or 
twelve riotous fellow s^ as they w^ere termed, have been 
known to be carried to jail by a single constable. The 
1st of August, 1834, was a day of deep and solemn re- 
ligious observance. The Moravians are the only body 
who have thrown open their chapels on the subsequent 
anniversaries of that glorious day, many of the propri- 
etors having set their faces against its celebration. 

•25th. — Our attention has been called to the mischief 
resulting from the non-recognition of the validity of 
marriages by dissenting ministers. An obsolete local 
Act, of the date of 1692, imposes a penalty upon any 
minister, not qualified according to the regulations of 
the Church of England, who shall celebrate the mar- 
riage ceremony. Other Acts also exist, which forbid 
the intermarriage of slaves and free persons, and dis- 
courage the marriages of slaves with each other. About 
twenty years ago, these acts began to be generally dis- 
regarded by the missionaries. From 1804 to 1834, the 
number of marriages of slaves registered at the Mora- 
vian Mission in St. John's, was nine hundred and four, 
and the number of divorces ten. Their example, and 



24 ANTIGUA. 

that of the Wesleyans, were followed by the present 
Rector of St. John's, and subsequently by the other 
established clergy. The Emancipation Act having given 
the Establishment the power of receiving fees for the 
marriage of negroes, and the ceremony having acquired 
a civil character, affecting the legal union of the parties, 
and the rights of inheritance of their children, the dis- 
senting ministers received an intimation that they must 
discontinue marrying, which they have done accord- 
ingly. One evil consequence resulting from this state 
of things, is to discourage marriage ; as the fees of the 
clergy are heavier than the negroes can always afford 
to pay. It is right, however, to add, that the excellent 
incumbent of the Metropolitan parish, has made both 
marriage and burial fees a free-will offering, and his 
example has been followed by at least one other clergy- 
man. The following relation forcibly illustrates the 
glaring evils which result from the non- validity of what 
are called sectarian marriages, a question which the Act 
of Emancipation has raised into importance. Many 
years ago, a free black woman purchased a coloured 
slave, gave him his freedom, and was married to him 
by a Wesleyan minister. The 1st of August, 1834, 
was, in his estimation, a day of general release, even from 
the connubial bond ; and he proceeded to take another 
and younger wife of his own complexion. A licence 
was obtained ; but the clergyman, being timely apprised 
of the facts, refused to perform the ceremony ; legal 
proceedings were threatened; but at length the parties 
paid a visit to a neighbouring foreign colony, and, after 
a short absence, returned to Antigua— w<2rr zee/. It is 
said, that other persons, similarly circumstanced, were 
waiting the result, whose wishes were only defeated by 
the firmness of the estabhshed clergy. In other in- 
stances, we are informed, the parents of numerous 
families have taken advantage of the law, to dissolve 



ANTIGUA. 25 

their unions of many years' duration. In some of the 
colonies also, and even in Antigua, proprietors have 
been found capable of taking advantage of the non- 
recognition of marriages, to forbid husbands and wives, 
resident, as is generally the case, on different estates, 
from visiting each other in their hours of rest and recre- 
ation. 

We visited this morning the Methodist Infant school. 
There were one hundred and thirty children present, of 
from two to seven years of age, and of every colour ; 
three or four white, twenty or thirty black, and the rest 
of every intermediate shade of complexion. Some of 
them repeated to us their usual rhythmical exercises, 
and a class of them read very nicely in the 5th chapter 
of Matthew ; the whole sung a hymn at the conclusion ; 
the faces of the children w^ere expressive of happiness 
and intelligence. The school appeared to be in an 
efficient state, and we thought it would bear comparison 
with the average of infant schools in England. The 
teachers were two coloured young women. 

•26th. — We went this morning through the market, 
which was largely attended. Almost every sort of eatable 
commodity was exposed for sale; fruit, fish, meal, be- 
sides bundles of sticks and grass, cotton prints, &c. &c. 
The scene was a highly animated one, but the pro- 
ceedings were conducted with great order. Previously 
to the abolition of slavery, the market was principally 
supplied by the agricultural peasantry, with articles of 
their own raising; but now this class are more generally 
buyers than sellers; and a large proportion of the mer- 
chandise is of foreign growth or manufacture. The 
increase of trade thus created is one consequence of the 
payment of labour in wages. A Police Act came into 
operation about a fortnight ago, which affords an illus- 
tration of the new forms in which oppression will learn 
to exhibit itself in the West Indies ; one of its clauses 



26 ANTIGUA. 

prohibits country people from bringing their goods to 
market without a pass from the manager of the estate 
on which they reside. Unless they are provided with 
this pass, the police seize and confiscate their property, 
w^hether it be produce, poultry, or other stock of their 
own raising, or grass and wood collected on the estate, 
by the manager's permission. We had a long talk to- 
day with a negro, introduced to us by a friend, as one 
on whose veracity we might depend. He appeared to 
be a serious, respectable man. The substance of his 
statement was, that their wages of one shilling currency, 
a day, (about fivepence-halfpenny sterling,) were not 
sufficient to maintain them. He had a wife and six 
children, and an old mother, to support; of whom, two 
of the children only were able to earn any thing. They 
could not manage without "minding" their little stock. 
He said, that if a labourer was five minutes after time in 
the morning, the manager stopped his pay for the day. 
He complained also that he had just received thirty 
days' notice to quit, because he refused to allow one of 
his children, whom he wished to put to a trade, to go to 
the field, although he promised that all his other child- 
ren should be brought up to estate labour. Men are 
sometimes taken before the magistrate, and fined for 
trespass, for visiting their wives living on different pro- 
perties. In conclusion, however, as the labourers could 
not now be locked up in the dungeon and flogged, the 
change in their circumstances was yet, as he emphati- 
cally expressed it, " Thank God, a great deliverance 
from bondage." 

27th. — We went this morning to the Moravian chapel. 
Several of the brethren reside at the station in St. 
John's. The one who occupied the pulpit to-day was a 
German ; and his discourse was nearly unintelligible to 
us. The propriety of sending any but English mission- 
aries to labour in our West India Colonies may well be 



ANTIGUA, !iS/ 

doubted, unless the German brethren possess the faculty 
of easily acquiring a new language, in addition to the 
evangelical zeal and piety which doubtless many of 
them do possess. A gentleman of great intelligence, 
and long resident here, remarked to us to-day, that the 
people have improved much in dress and general ap- 
pearance since Emancipation. The very features of 
the negroes have altered within his memory, in conse- 
quence, as he believes, of their elevation by education 
and religious instruction. Their countenances express 
much more intelligence, and much less of the malignant 
passions. A belief in the Obeah, and other super- 
stitions, is not quite worn out, even among the members 
of churches. Fears of poisoning used to be common 
among cruel masters and managers. Such would lock 
up the filtering apparatus which supplied them with 
water, and commit the key to a favourite slave. Others 
would employ none but hired servants in their houses, 
not daring to trust their slaves. We visited the Wes- 
leyan Sunday School in the course of the day. There 
were upwards of three hundred children present, of 
various ages, and of all shades of colour. The school 
appeared to be in an efficient state, and was conducted 
in its various classes by a large number of teachers ; all 
of whom were black or coloured young men and women. 
The children, as usual, looked happy and animated. 
Their bodily and mental faculties certainly appear to 
be more rapidly developed than in our colder climate ; 
a circumstance which renders the extensive introduction 
of the infant system into the West Indies a matter of 
the most urgent importance. 

28th. — We left St. John's this morning, on a little 
journey into the interior, being kindly invited to Nev/- 
field, one of the stations of the Brethren. We called on 
our way on a planter, residing on his own estate, who is 
also a clergyman of the Established Church, and has built 



28 ANTIGUA. 

a little chapel of ease over his boiling-house, in which 
he preaches to his people on the Sabbath. He informed 
us, that he had formerly two hundred slaves, of whom 
about one hundred and fifty of all ages were employed. 
He has now one hundred on his pay list, including child- 
ren ; and the cultivation of his estate is kept up as well 
as before, the deficiency being supplied by the introduc- 
tion of the plough. It was not unfrequent formerly to 
have twenty or thirty at a time in the sick-house. Sham 
sickness has now entirely disppeared, as the labourers 
suffer by the loss of time themselves. One of the chief 
disadvantages of the new system resulted from the idea 
of degradation attached to field labour. On this account 
he never took his domestics, as formerly, from the field ; 
because if they did not please him in their new capacity, 
they invariably refused to return to their agricultural 
labour. Speaking of the general question of Emanci- 
pation, he said, that he preferred the free system for 
himself, because he could employ many or few hands as 
he pleased. The expense of working estates was, he be- 
lieved, about the same as before. On the whole, per- 
haps, there had been an improvement in the moral con- 
dition of the people. There were no such outbreaks now 
of the malignant passions as were frequent formerly. 
Things were managed with much less discomfort to the 
proprietor on this account. He observed, that Antigua 
presented the only instance of a body of agricultural slaves 
being emancipated without being made to pass through 
a transition state. It was in the power of the proprietors 
to revert to such a state, and it might be desirable to do 
so, by giving the people their houses and grounds on 
lease, on condition of their paying a rent of so many days' 
labour in the year. This would attach them to the soil. 
We proceeded from thence to Newfield. In the course 
of the day, our kind host, Brother Morrish, accompanied 
us to several of the neighbouring plantations. The first 



ANTIGUA. 29 

gentleman to whom he introduced us, who had always 
been esteemed an indulgent master, carried us to see 
his negro village, part of which has been rebuilt, and 
otherwise improved, since 1834. The houses are now 
very comfortable ; consisting of one, and sometimes two 
rooms, of from ten to fourteen feet square, and kept very 
clean, a few of which are furnished with a four-post bed, 
and other household goods. Each kitchen is a little 
detached shed, thatched, and without chimney, appa- 
rently so ill adapted to culinary processes, that it is diffi- 
cult to imagine how the villages escape an occasional 
conflagration. The huts are also thatched with cane- 
trash, thrown on in a very slovenly manner, but the in- 
terior roof is constructed of strips of palm leaves neatly 
plaited. In one which we entered, a young woman was 
sitting on the ground, with a very young child in her 
lap, which had on an obi necklace of horse-hair, because 
its neck was " limber," as she expressed it. The mini- 
ster took off the necklace, and spoke to her very appro- 
priately on her sinful habits and superstition. She was 
not married. 

We made inquiries of this gentleman respecting the 
comparative cost of cultivation under the present and 
former systems, and subsequently received two letters 
from him on that subject. He was unable to furnish us 
with a statement in figures; but he believed the cost 
of working his two estates under the new system was 
greater than before, as they had always been full-handed, 
and used to raise annually a supply of provisions suffi- 
cient for six or ten months' consumption. On the ave- 
rage of estates he did not think that the free system was 
dearer than slavery. He observed, that there had not 
been even " moderately good weather" since Emanci- 
pation, so as to give it a fair trial in other respects ; 
but he fears that it will be found difficult to take off 

D 3 



30 ANTIGUA. 

an abundant crop within the usual time.* Another 
planter whom we called upon told us that the people 
gave him much less trouble than before Emancipatiouo 
He mentioned one estate in the island which had 
netted £5000 sterling this year; he thought, therefore, 
the free system must answer for some parties. In the 
evening, we had an interesting opportunity of observing 
the manner of exercising the discipline of the church 
amongst the Brethren, which convinced us that a real 
oversight is maintained over their large body of mem- 
bers. Certain evenings in the week are set apart for 
the members to come to have " a speaking" with the 
minister ; and the arrangements are such that the whole 
pass before him once in six or eight weeks, and receive 
advice suitable to their condition. There is, also, on 
each estate, a religious negro called a " helper," who 
watches over the members, and brings all delinquencies 
and disputes before the minister. Several cases were 
thus brought before him this evening. Two were of a 
serious character ; the individuals being accused of living 
with women to whom they were not married : — their 
sentences were, to be put out of the church. Another 
case was that of a husband charged with beating his 
wife : — sentence, suspension. These decisions are taken 
to the monthly conference of the missionaries for con- 
firmation. The addresses of the minister to the oifend- 
ers were affectionately solemn and appropriate, and 
appeared to produce a deep impression. The people 
are more in fear of the church discipline than of legal 
punishment ; and some planters employ the authority of 
the minister, rather than that of the magistrate, in 

* We have found that many planters participate in this belief; but 
we are happy to add, that, on the few estates which were favoured last 
year with good weather and a large crop, these fears have not bee» 
realised. 



ANTIGUA. 31 

enforcing due discipline and subordination on their 
estates. 

29th. — We went after breakfast to see a part of the 
mission property, which has been let off in little plots 
to labourers on adjoining estates, who esteem it a pri- 
vilege to tenant them ; though they receive no equi- 
valent increase of wages, in lieu of the hut and ground 
which they would otherwise occupy on the estate. The 
rent is six shillings currency (two shillings and eight- 
pence sterling) per month for a cottage and a quarter 
of an acre of land. One boy of fifteen, who has an aged 
mother to support, applied for a piece of land; and, 
when the minister hesitated, said, " O massa, I can 
manage to pay the rent." He immediately set about 
clearing it with great spirit; and has now got it into 
nice order, and part of it planted with yams. The free 
cottage system has been tried to a small extent in one 
or two other places, and hitherto with complete success. 
At present, however, excepting in the towns, there are, 
perhaps, not fifty independent cottages in the island. 
A part of the mission land has been also appropriated 
to the children of Brother Morrish's infant school, who 
have little gardens to cultivate in their spare time. 
They are thus brought up to associate pleasurable in- 
stead of painful ideas with agricultural employments. 
We called in the course of this morning upon the Rector 
of the parish, (St. Philip's,) with whom we had an inte- 
resting conversation on the state of education. His 
statements confirmed our own observation, that the island 
possesses schools in abundance, but that many of the 
teachers are inefficient, and that a normal school is 
greatly needed. Speaking of the state of agriculture, 
he observed, that he had always understood from the 
conversation of proprietors and attorneys that the free 
system was less expensive than slavery, and that pro- 
perty was increased in value. A grazing estate of one 



32 ANTIGUA. 

hundred and ninety- six acres, the half of which was 
offered two years ago to a gentleman of his acquaintance 
for four hundred pounds, was then about to be sold by 
auction, and was expected to fetch not less than two 
thousand pounds. This estate, we subsequently ascer- 
tained, was sold for two thousand six hundred pounds. 
He related an anecdote to us of a negro, who was em- 
ployed to bring some wine from St. John's, to a house 
eleven miles distant. The price agreed upon was one 
dollar and a half, for the whole quantity of fifteen dozen; 
which he earned by making two journeys a day, equal 
to forty-four miles ; bringing one dozen and a half upon 
his head each time. We afterwards paid our respects 
to Dr. Nugent, the speaker of the House of Assembly, 
who resides in this neighbourhood. He received us 
very courteously ; and, with characteristic liberality and 
candour, consented to give us information on the various 
subjects in which we expressed an interest. Another 
planter, whom we called upon on our way to Willoughby 
Bay, gave us a most encouraging account indeed of the 
success of freedom. Before 1834, there were one hun- 
dred and ten slaves on the property, of whom he could 
sometimes scarcely muster seventeen or twenty in the 
field. Their average weekly expense of clothing and 
allowances was twenty-seven pounds. He has now 
double the amount of effective labour; namely, fifty- 
seven persons, whose wages amount only to fifteen pounds 
weekly.* The estate derives a considerable profit also 
from the sale of ground provisions to the labourers. He 
observed to us that the other colonies would have done 
well to have followed the example of Antigua; but 
complained bitterly of the small thanks they had re- 
ceived from the Home Government It appears to be 
a general sentiment here that Antigua is in disgrace at 
the colonial office, in consequence of the rejection of the 

* See Appendix A. Sec. II. 



ANTIGUA. 33 

apprenticeship. We called at Willoughby Bay upon 
Charles Thwaites, the venerable father of education in 
Antigua. He has lived thirty-nine years in the island, 
the last twenty of which have been devoted to this work. 
We visited with him a large school of one hundred and 
twenty children, of whom only twenty are in the alpha° 
bet class. The rest can read in one or two syllables, 
and some of them in any part of the Bible. The prin- 
cipal teacher, a negro young man, governed the school, 
we were told, successfully, and in the spirit of love, yet it 
appeared to us that he taught the children rather by rote 
than intelligently. The children spelt correctly; and 
were quick in reply to Scripture questions proposed by 
ourselves, or C. Thwaites. In the evening we proceeded 
to Grace Hill, another Moravian station, where, though 
entire strangers, we were kindly received by the Bre- 
thren Baynes and Miller. We esteem it a privilege to 
be permitted to witness the good which the missionaries 
are doing. Harmony, simplicity, and love, appear to 
reign in their households, and shine forth in their con- 
duct and conversation. We heard to-day a distressing 
account of a poor man, who was starved to death. He 
was unable to work, and had been detected stealing 
canes, to which he was probably impelled by hunger, as 
he had no allowance from the estate on which he lived. 
He ran away for fear of punishment, and was found 
dead in the open country, at some distance from home. 
The most painful feature in the state of Antigua at the 
present moment is, the destitute condition of the old 
and infirm, owing to the absence of a legal provision for 
them, and to the present distress from the long period 
of drought. 

30th. — At Grace Hill the missionaries are about to 
let off a part of the mission property on the cottage 
system, as at Newfield. A considerable portion, also, 
of a neighbouring estate has been sold in acres, and 



34 ANTIGUA. 

half-acres, to the labourers, who have built cottages 
thereon for themselves, and still continue to work on the 
adjoining properties. The price paid has been thirty- 
five dollars per acre, and six dollars for the conveyance. 
We left early this morning for English Harbour. One 
of the brethren kindly accompanied us as far as Fal- 
mouth, where he introduced us to Dr. Murray, whose 
lady has established an interesting infant school of about 
thirty children. They read and spelt pretty well, and 
were neatly dressed. The Doctor confirmed a state- 
ment we have frequently heard, that there has been a 
great decrease of sickness on the estates since Emanci- 
pation. On our way to English Harbour, we were over- 
taken by a gentleman who invited us to accompany him 
to the Police Office, where he was going to preside as a 
magistrate. We stayed there several hours. The cases 
disposed of were nearly as follows : — 1. A young woman, 
with an infant in arms, charged with going to town to 
market on Monday, after having been refused leave: 
sentenced to pay one dollar to the estate. A fee of half 
a dollar is due to the treasury on each complaint, which 
is paid by the complainant, where the charge is not sus- 
tained, otherwise by the defendant, in addition to any 
other fine which may be imposed. Until very recently, 
the magistrate was entitled to receive a fee of six 
shillings currency (two shillings and eightpence) from 
complainants who did not sustain their charge, or twelve 
shillings from defendants on conviction. This gave rise 
to great abuses and oppressions, till the fees were happily 
abolished by a recent act of the legislature. The de- 
fendant, in the above instance, paid the money in court, 
and immediately gave her manager thirty days' notice to 
quit. — 2. A young man, charged with breaking forty- 
eight canes : fined three dollars to the treasury, and four 
to the estate. The amount was paid by his mother. 
— 3. A man, charged with stealing canes and corn, on an 



ANTIGUA. 35 

estate different to the one on which he lived; the watch- 
man of that estate with connivance ; and a girl with re- 
ceiving part as a gift. The case against the watchman 
was dismissed, the girl admonished, and directed to pay 
the treasury fee, and the principal offender sentenced to 
pay seven dollars, as in the preceding case. There was 
no one to advance the money for him, and he was there- 
fore sent to hard labour, in the House of Correction, for 
three months. He burst into tears, on hearing the sen- 
tence. — 4. An old man, charged with steahng yams and 
cane-trash. He was in the weeding gang, at ninepence 
per diem, (fourpence sterling.) He had been sick for a 
week, during which he received no pay, and was com- 
pelled by hunger to take the yams to eat, and the cane- 
trash to boil them : fined one dollar to the estate. The 
manager advanced the treasury-fee for him, and is to 
stop the amount from his wages. He acknowledged the 
defendant was very attentive to his work. It appears 
evident to us, that, in this deplorable case, want was the 
exciting cause of the offence. The penalty, if exacted, 
will be wrung from his bare means of existence. — 5. Two 
girls, charged with trespass. The case against one of 
them was not sustained, as she had not been warned off 
the property. The other was admonished and dismissed, 
on payment of the usual fee to the treasury. The com- 
plainant was directed to pay the same fee for the other 
case, but this was not finally insisted on. He appeared 
surprised and dissatisfied, and said, in an under-tone, to 

the magistrate, that Mr. — (his employer) expected 

the girl would have been fined five pounds. — 6. Several 
other cases of cane-breaking were disposed of in a similar 
manner to the preceding. One woman, with an infant 
in arms, was fined a dollar for having a single cane in 
her possession. The Superintendent of Police, who 
acted as clerk, told us, that taking canes was a tempta- 
tion the negroes could scarcely resist. They had been 



36 ANTIGUA. 

accustomed to do so from childhood, and little notice 
was taken of it during slavery. The preceding cases, 
besides others not affecting the predial class, were dis- 
posed of summarily, without cross examination. The 
culprits had no adviser, and often could scarcely make 
themselves understood. The fines, in most cases, ap- 
peared to us excessive, bearing no proportion to the 
value of the property destroyed. No allowance was 
made on account of the high price of provisions, and the 
low rate of wages ; and none for the ancient custom, and 
almost recognised right, of the negro to take canes for 
their own consumption. No moral admonition was be- 
stowed upon them; no remark on the sin of stealing. 
The penalty was the only motive held out to them, to 
act differently in future. The complaining overseers 
displayed a bitter and overbearing spirit towards the 
people. The fines appeared, when paid, to be raised 
by general contribution amongst the friends of the 
defendants, and must be a heavy drain upon their re- 
sources. We were shown, at the Police Office, the 
orderly book of the parish. The vestry are chosen by 
the freeholders, mth power to tax the parish for the 
payment of the clergy, repairs and expenses of the 
church, relief of the poor, &c. They do not appear to 
extend relief to worn-out field labourers. Subsequently, 
we visited a large school, under the care of the Esta- 
blished Church, which did not seem to be efficiently 
conducted. We went, also, to see the " Refuge for 
Female Orphans ;" an interesting and most useful insti- 
tution, w^hich is dependent on the English " Ladies' 
Society." It was declining for want of attention; its 
chief support had been Mrs. Gilbert, an excellent lady 
of colour, now dead. Falmouth, and English Harbour, 
though called towns, are scarcely worthy of the name. 
Each of them is situated on a small but veiy beautiful 
bay. On our way back to St. John's, we met several 



ANTIGUA. 37 

negroes, of whom we inquired respecting the change in 
their condition. They acknowledged that it was much 
improved. " Thank God," said one, " we are a hundred 
times better off than before." The particular ameliora- 
tion which they chiefly dwelt upon was, that they could 
not be flogged. They complained, however, that it was 
hard for a man who had a family to live on one shilling 
a day. They were all members of churches. It is not 
difiicult to tell, by a negro's countenance, whether he is 
in Christian communion. Those at the Police Office 
were evidently of the " baser sort," and one of the ma- 
gistrates acknowledged to us, that it was not common 
for a Moravian to be brought before them. 

12th Month, 1st, (December.) — One of us went this 
morning to attend the sitting of the House of Assem- 
bly. In the lobby he was introduced to the Chief 
Justice of the island, who said, in the course of a few 
minutes' conversation, that it was not to be supposed 
that crime had really increased because there were novv* 
heavy calendars. Cases came before the magistrate 
which were formerly decided by the masters. The 
peaceable and orderly conduct of the people had ex- 
ceeded his anticipations ; and there was no one, he be- 
lieved, who would deny, that the general result of 
Emancipation had more than equalled his expectations. 
From twelve to eighteen members were present at the 
Assembly to-day. One of the most animated debates 
was on the state of a piece of road. The way-wardens 
had requested the visiting magistrates to employ the 
criminal gang to repair it, which they refused, on the 
ground that it would be injurious to the health of the 
prisoners. A petition was presented against the decision 
by an honourable member, himself the chief party in- 
terested. He acknowledged that the place was mala- 
rious, but said, that to employ voluntary labour at a 
high rate upon the improvement of it, " would be detri- 

E 



88 ANTIGUA. 

mental to the whole planting interest." It was a work 
of necessity, and the health of prisoners ought not to be 
considered before that of the peaceable and orderly pea- 
santry. To this it was replied, that the prisoners were 
condemned to imprisonment and hard labour, and not 
to sickness and death. They had no change of clothes, 
and would have to be shut up together at night, to resist 
the influences of the malaria, under the most unfavour- 
able circumstances. As, however, it was a work of 
necessity, it would be perfectly justifiable to employ 
voluntary labour upon it, and it was well known that 
men would undertake any thing for money. Though a 
good dealwas said on the inconveniences likely to result 
from the employment of labourers at a higher rate than 
one shilling a day, the discussion on the whole was 
highly creditable to the House, and the question was 
finally decided in favour of the prisoners. It was 
stated in the course of the debate, that the negroes 
are mxuch more careful of their health than formerly. 
They did not use to mind working in the rain, but 
now a shower sends them flying in all directions for 
shelter. A letter was read to the House, from their 
Agent in London, on the subject of a severe dispatch 
of Lord Glenelg against the late House of Assembly, 
in the matter of a recent quarrel with the Govern- 
ment. 

The Agent said, that the dispatch in question could 
not have proceeded from the amiable mind of his Lord- 
ship, but "appeared to emanate from the invariable 
atmosphere of the Colonial Office." He quoted the 
parody of the Morning Post on Lord Glenelg, " nullem 
quod tetifjit non damnamt^^ and said, he did not believe 
his Lordship had written, or even that he had ever read 
the dispatch in question; and he exhorted the House not 
to rest satisfied with having made out such a clear case 
in their reply to it, but to cause Lord Glenelg "to 



ANTIGUA. 39 

wince," by publishing to the world a series of stringent 
resolutions on his conduct. 

A petition was presented for the cleansing of a pond, 
which supplied the town of English Harbour with water. 
The honourable member stated, that the old Act had 
become obsolete, which provided that these ponds should 
be kept in order by contribution , from the different 
estates of slave labour, which " had now happily ceased 
to exist." Another gentleman proposed, that as these 
ponds were equally for the benefit of rich and poor, that 
the labouring classes should be taxed to contribute their 
quota towards this object, either in labour or mone}^ 
He complained that they required higher wages for such 
labour, than the regular rate of one shilling . a day. A 
letter of thanks was read from James Cox, on behalf of 
the Wesleyan missionaries, for the grant of a piece of 
ground, in St. John's, for the erection of a new chapel 
and school. The proceedings were concluded by the 
reading of several bills, not of general interest. 

2nd. — To-day was the commencement of the Grand 
Sessions of the Court of King's Bench. The business 
was begun amidst some disorder and confusion; the 
witnesses, prisoner, prosecutor, jurors, and judges, speak- 
ing and asking questions indiscriminately. In one of the 
indictments were several mistakes of dates and places, 
which would, probably, have quashed the proceedings in 
an English Court. The witnesses usually gave their 
testimony in a clear, straightforward manner, without 
being prompted by interrogatories. The sentences were 
lenient, in which respect they differed much from the 
decisions of the magistrates at the Police Court of 
English Harbour. We called in the evening upon R. 
Holberton, the Rector of St. John's, who is deeply in- 
terested in the condition of the negro population, and a 
most active and zealous supporter of schools and other 
institutions for their benefit. He told us, that when he 



40 ANTIGUA. 

came from St. Vincent's, eight years ago, he was much 
struck with the superiority of the Antigua negroes, in 
aspect, dress, and manners. 

3rd. — We attended, this morning, the Police Office in 
St. John's. The cases were principally for assault and 
battery, and breach of contract, with recriminatory com- 
plaints of abuse, disorderly conduct, &c. The decisions 
of the magistrates were just and impartial, and the 
penalties lenient. Some of the cases were serious; 
others, of a very trifling character. The appeal to the 
magistrate is a privilege, of which, perhaps, the eman- 
cipated portion of the community avail themselves on 
too trifling occasions. This remark does not, however, 
apply to the agricultural population; in their case, a 
counterpart observation may be made on their su- 
periors. 

We called in the afternoon at the mission station of 
the Brethren. The minister was engaged in receiving 
and paying money, on account of his Benefit Societies. 
In addition to the sums disbursed for sickness, one man 
received a dollar for a sheep, which had died, and 
another, half a dollar for a pig ; a new example of the 
modes in which the principle of mutual assistance is 
carried out in these generous institutions. We went 
afterwards to the school-room, where we found the 
teacher engaged with three or four negroes, whom he 
teaches to write on the Saturday. They were fine in- 
telligent men. One of them told us, that, notwithstand- 
ing the hard times, and dearness of provisions, " he 
praised God every day for freedom." On the estate on 
w^hich he lived, the people were never taken before the 
magistrate, or their wages checked, unless there was 
cause for it. The old people, however, were not sup- 
ported; he and his brother had to maintain their aged 
mother. He complained, too, that they could not take 
their property to market without a pass, which was never 



ANTIGUA. 41 

required from them during slavery. He acknowledged 
they did not work quite so hard as before, unless they 
received some extra indulgence or gratuity. Another 
of the men gave us similar testimony. We explained 
to them the principle of Savings' Banks, of which they 
appeared perfectly to comprehend, and appreciate the 
advantages. These institutions would be an invaluable 
auxiliary to the Friendly Societies. We had an oppor- 
tunity, in the course of the evening, of conversing with 
several other negroes. The first was formerly on an 
estate of Sir C. B. Codrington, and left it when freedom 
came, because he used to be flogged when a slave. On 
that estate, the first gang, which then numbered 150, 
now musters only fifty. He complained of the low rate 
of wages. Another negro, an intelligent man upwards 
of sixty years old, told us, that on the estate on which 
he lived, the manager broke up the provision grounds of 
the people, the week before August, 1834. He was a 
driver on the estate, but since they became free, he had 
been compelled to sell his stock, and quit the estate with 
his family, on account of the harsh treatment which he 
received from the manager; he has since been employed 
in tending the cattle on another property, at ninepence 
currency (fourpence) per day. Although this old man 
had suffered in his circumstances by the change, yet 
even he laughed at the idea of preferring slavery to 
freedom. He gave us a graphic description of the se- 
vere labour of the boiling-house in times past,* continued 

* An iatelligent manager observes : — "As regards the mode of remunera- 
tion for night-work, however the manager's sense of justice and right 
might have operated in favour of the labourer, the principle of claim to 
remuneration was not admitted. In general, however, I think it was af- 
forded in a greater or less degree. An extra quart of meal, or yams, &c. , and 
a '' little syrup''' (i. e. three or four pints) was the most that was desired, 
and not unfrequently obtained by the persons immediately about the 
mill. The poor field workers used to fare much worse on those estates 
where want of means and mismanagement rendered their attendance 

e3 



42 ANTIGUA, 

through the night to the second cock-crowing, or even 
till day-break. If there was not enough syrup produced, 
he used to be flogged for not flogging the firemen and 
other negroes in the boihng-house ; or if the supyjly of 
canes slackened at the mill, the field-driver was flogged 
for not flogging the cane-cutters. On being asked if he 
would prefer slavery, if the king gave orders that they 
should have their former allowances, and be in other 
respects on their former footing, without being liable to 
be flogged, he said, " The king might order, but the king 
no know what they do." He seemed fully sensible of 
the advantage of being able to change masters. A 
female whom we saw was one of Lord Crawford's slaves, 
emancipated under his will in 1832. After being made 
free, she continued to work in the field at the rate of 
seven shillings and sixpence currency (three shillings 
and fourpence) for five days' labour per week, besides 
all the slave allowances of food and clothing. After 
August, 1834, her wages were reduced to one shilling a 
day, when she left the plantation, and came to get her 
living in town. Most of Lord Crawford's people con- 
tinued to work in the field after they became free.* 
4th. — The Sabbath. — We went in the morning to the 

necessary to procure fuel, so long as the boiling continued. They seldom 
received more than as much hot liquor as they pleased to drink, for their 
extra work." 

* It has always been asserted by the advocates of slavery, that eman- 
cipated negroes invariably forsook estate labour. This is a fact in con- 
tradiction to that statement. Undoubtedly the greater number used to 
seek out some other employment, upon which the stigma of degradation 
was less deeply impressed. In but few instances, even when willing, 
would they have have been allowed to continue on the estates as field 
labourers. In all slave countries, however, freedom is a kind of patent 
of nobility ; and hence the lowest order of free persons, both white and 
black, being too proud to labour, are usually more wretched and de- 
graded than the slaves themselves. It is an error to suppose that the 
baleful influences of slavery are limited to the unfortunate class who are 
its immediate victims. 
i, 



ANTIGUA. 43 

parish church, whichis a spacious and elegant build- 
ing, and on this occasion filled with a congregation of 
about fifteen hundred persons. We are informed that 
distinctions of colour are manifestly less observed within 
its walls than they were a year ago. It appears to be the 
custom of the upper classes to attend public worship ; 
and the general observance of the Sabbath in the island 
is very exemplary. 

. 5th. — We spent the greater part of the day with Dr. 
Nugent, who very kindly gave up his time to us. The 
subjoined memoranda are a correct, though incomplete 
representation of the valuable information he communi- 
cated. We assure ourselves that he will not object to be 
cited as a witness to the favourable results of that great 
measure, of which he was one of the ablest and most 
earnest supporters. He is of opinion that under the free 
system the saving is great in those cases where the slaves 
were supported entirely on imported supplies, and less 
where they were fed on rations of ground provisions grown 
upon the estate. Different estates grew provisions for 
various periods of two, four, eight, or ten months; the 
average being about five months. In the latter instances, 
the annual cash outlay would be greater than before ; but 
on the average of the whole island, he believes the saving, 
under the present system, to be inconsiderable. One 
important economical reform was introduced the year 
before Emancipation, by the repeal of the " Deficiency 
Law," which required a white man to be maintained on 
each estate for every forty slaves, under a penalty of 
£30 a year. Two white women were considered equi- 
valent, for the purposes of this Act, to one man. Many 
estates paid two, four, or more deficiencies. This partial 
and oppressive tax also prevented the employment of 
coloured overseers, who are now gradually displacing the 
whites, at a reduction of salary of about £20 a year 
each. A purchasing and consuming population is be- 



44 ANTIGUA. 

ginning to be formed within the island itself. The sale 
of ground provisions to their labourers is already become 
a source of profit to estates. A negro will sometimes go 
to the store-keeper to buy a gallon of molasses, and 
though this retail sale is at present more troublesome 
than profitable to proprietors, it will eventually become 
a source of revenue to them. The reduction of medical 
expenses is considerable. The estate hospitals have be- 
come useless. On a Monday morning, during slavery, 
the doctor vvould find eight, ten, or even twenty in the 
sick-house; now, he has comparatively nothing to do. 
He is paid one-third less per head than before ; but his 
duties have diminished in a much greater ratio. Before' 
Emancipation some estates were eaten up by their over- 
population. On one belonging to a relative of his, with 
320 negroes, the saving effected by reducing the number 
of negroes had been immense. In such cases there was 
generally some impediment to the transfer or sale of the 
superfluous negroes ; either the estate was mortgaged, or 
had several owners, or was in trust, or in chancery, or 
entailed. Several properties in this situation were on the 
point of being abandoned. Nothing could have saved 
them but a legislative measure of Emancipation. A pro- 
perty was instanced, possessing 400 of the finest negroes 
in the island, which appeared to be inextricably involved. 
The proprietor, residing in England, had turned his 
back upon it, and refused to receive or answer the letters 
of his agent, who was thereby placed in a most painful 
situation. He had no means of carrying on the culti- 
vation ; he could get no help from home ; and though 
a man of humanity, was embarrassed by prosecutions for 
not furnishing the people with the legal supplies. On 
the passing of the Emancipation Bill, the compensation 
money enabled the mortgagees to make some settlement 
of the affairs ; superfluous hands, or rather mouths, were 
dismissed ; the cultivation resumed with a fair prospect 



ANTIGUA. 45 

of success ; and " the agent has been a happy man ever 
since." With regard to the general welfare of the colony, 
he told us that the proprietary body are more prosperous 
than before. Some estates have thrown oflF their load of 
debt, others have passed into the possession of capitalists, 
by whom their cultivation can be more effectively carried 
on. An estate was mentioned which cost, ten years ago, 
£40,000. He would give as much for this very estate 
now without the slaves, and consider it a safer and 
better investment. Another small estate was instanced, 
belonging to three equal proprietors. Just before Eman- 
cipation two of them sold their shares for £1500 cur- 
rency each; the third now stands out for more; one 
proof, against many, that property has risen in value. 
Every one acquainted with the town of St. John's will 
acknowledge, that it is much more bustling and pros- 
perous. Persons returning to it after a year or two's ab- 
sence have been astonished at the change. The credit 
of planters is improved, and confidence restored. A few 
years ago, a gentleman offered to consign his produce to 
a mercantile house, on condition that it would make him 
an advance to discharge a debt due to his present mer- 
chants. The answer was negative. He has lately re- 
ceived a letter from the same party, offering advances. 
Another English firm, who, before Emancipation, were 
seeking to reduce their securities on estates as much as 
possible, have since sent out an agent to Antigua, to see 
if there were any openings to extend them. During the 
last fifteen or twenty years, many estates, chiefly in the 
mountains, or poorer lands, have gone out of cultivation. 
Some of these, doubtless, will again come under culture. 
One has already been resumed, the proprietor of which 
is paying his negroes 2s. a day, greatly to the disturbance 
of his neighbours. 

But there are important exceptions. A few estates 
have been disorganised, if not ruined, by the change ; 



46 ANTIGUA, 

but in most instances, if not in ail, this can be traced 
to tlie harsli and injudicious conduct of the owners 
or their agents. With regard to changes, present and 
prospective, our informant said, that the cane cultiva- 
tion has been somewhat lessened, from several causes : 
1st. An anticipation, well or ill-founded, that it would 
be necessary to lessen it. 2nd. Because too many canes 
were cultivated before, the land not having been suffi- 
ciently cleaned and manured ; and, lastly, because a few 
labourers have forsaken the field, whose deficiency is 
not yet supplied by agricultural improvements. There 
has also been, in the last year or two, an " inva- 
sion" of couch grass, which gives immense trouble. 
There are much fewer ground provisions grown than 
before ; for, as it is not now the proprietor's duty to 
subsist his negroes, he turns his attention to the most 
profitable article, sugar; and also because the negroes 
at first manifested a good deal of caprice, in refusing to 
purchase provisions from the estate stores— preferring 
corn-meal, rice, &c., from the town. The planters have 
ceased to cultivate, perhaps to too great an extent ; but 
these things will find their own level. There are as 
yet no non-resident labourers. All have a hut, piece of 
ground, and medical attendance, as before. No extra 
labour, therefore, is in the market, except that the plan- 
ters occasionally hire the Saturdays of the people from 
neighbouring properties. Every estate maintains its 
full complement of labourers, both in and out of crop. 
There are no independent villages whatever, and though 
the people have the strongest desire to acquire what 
they call " a plot of land," meaning about an acre, yet 
great obstacles exist, because there are no suitable spots, 
except parts of actual estates, w^iich the proprietors are 
unwilling, or unable to dispose of. The island can 
never realise the full benefits of the new system, till 
there are such villages, w^hich would be to the planters 



ANTIGUA. 



47 



as reservoirs of surplus labour," enabling tliem to em- 
ploy many or few hands, according to their actual wants. 
The economical advantages of free labour are indeed 
only beginning to be felt. Labourers and servants will 
become more efficient. A family requires at present 
three times as many domestics as in England. In the 
field, two or three men are required to manage a team 
in a plough, cart, or wagon. Agricultural implements, 
cane-mills, and other machinery, will be improved. The 
plough has long been used in the island ; but on many 
estates its judicious use is still a novelty. These and 
many other improvements will be stimulated by a dimi- 
nished supply of human labour. 

The comparative improvements in the condition of 
the rural population are not to be enumerated. They 
are not flogged,* or locked up. They are their own 
masters, free to go or stay. They receive money wages, 
whilst they retain all their old privileges, except their 
allowances of food and clothing. A common source of 
dissatisfaction formerly was their food. They became 
tired of yams and Indian corn. Eddoes (another fari- 
naceous root) would almost create mutiny. The law, 
too, did not prescribe how their rations should be distri- 
buted, so that corn was sometimes given them in the 
ear ; and thereby a vast increase of their labour occa- 
sioned, perhaps in crop, by their having to parch and 
pound it. Now, they provide themselves with what they 
like ; and are therefore better, if less abundantly fed. 
They are also much better dressed. Many make them- 
selves ridiculously fine on Sundays. It is not uncom- 
mon, on that day, to see ladies, who toil under a burning 
sun during six days of the week, attired on the seventh 

* It is due to Dr. N. to state, that the whip was disused on the estate 
on which he resides during the last fifteen years of slavery ; one conse- 
quence of which humane system is seen in the fact, that only one of the 
negroes has left the estate since they became free. 



48 ANTIGUA. 

in silk stockings, and straw bonnet, with parasol, and 
gloves; and the gentlemen in black coats and fancy 
waistcoats. This extravagance is partly owing to the 
absence of an intermediate class for them to imitate. 
They are probably possessed of more money than during 
slavery, but have less live stock ; as immediately before 
August 1834, they converted much of their property 
into coin, as is customary in every anticipation of exten- 
sive changes and revolutions. If they cultivate their 
grounds less than before, it is to be attributed to the 
drought, which has rendered it unprofitable to expend 
labour upon them. They do not work so well on the 
estates except when they are on task work ; but though 
task work has not yet been extensively introduced, the 
cane cultivation is well adapted to it. Drunkenness is 
not a vice of the negro. His temptations are stealing 
and lying. Dances are a great source of demoralisation. 
They sometimes aspire to suppers, and even champagne, 
so called ; and most absurdly give sums of four or five 
dollars for the honour of opening the ball, besides money 
to their partners. This tempts to robbery. If any 
change for the worse has taken place in their morals, it 
is in the case of domestic servants. House-breaking, 
stealing money, &c., are sometimes heard of, which were 
before unknown ; the offenders are usually dissolute free 
people, or former domestics. 

The people are much more easily and pleasantly 
governed than during slavery. The proprietor has less 
" cark" and care; less bodily and mental fatigue, and 
infinitely less annoyance of all descriptions. Every diffi- 
culty used to be referred to him ; constant disputes were 
to be settled, as to the work to be done by females, &c.; 
now he has no need to interfere ; the disputes are 
carried to the magistrate. No one can conceive the 
irritation engendered by the old system ; in addition to 
which, the obloquy thrown upon the planters was be- 



ANTIGUA. 49 

come almost insupportable. All this was swept away 
by Emancipation. " He did not believe there was a 
man in the colony who could lay his hand upon his 
heart and say he would wish to return to the old state 
of things." Were there no other consideration, it gave 
him great pleasure to see men working in the fields as 
free agents as himself. He sometimes pointed to a well- 
dressed gang of labourers, and asked his friends whether 
it was not an exhilarating sight ? Some would reply to 
him, that it was all very well if it did but last ; but that 
now every child was being educated ; and that the next 
generation would be too much of gentlemen and ladies 
to work in the field. He, however, maintained, that 
there was more danger in partial than general education. 
6th. — We went this morning to see the national 
schools in St. John's, where we were joined by the 
Rector, who kindly devoted the morning to us. Both 
the boys' and girls' schools were in a more efficient state 
than others which we have visited. A large proportion 
of the children were emancipated in August, 1834, viz., 
seventy-eight of 117 boys, and seventy-five of 122 girls. 
Some of these were very fair. We noticed one little girl 
in particular, and were much astonished when she held 
up her hand with the rest that were made free. Her 
complexion was fair and clear; her hair flaxen, and 
with features perfectly European. The schoolmistress, 
an energetic old lady, appeared to take the most lively 
interest in her scholars, and seemed to be intimately 
acquainted with their individual histories, &c. Straw- 
plaiting has been carried on in both schools ; and in the 
boys' the making of shoes and trowsers, but the latter is 
at present suspended. We were next taken to see the 
Rector's infant school; a most interesting little estab- 
lishment. Here the children were nearly all of the eman- 
cipated class. A little regiment of them come every 
morning from a neighbouring estate, under the guidance 

F 



50 ANTIGUA. 

of an old woman, who carries their provisions in a basket 
on her head, and waits to take them home at night. The 
teacher, a young negress, is the most efficient native 
instructor we have seen, and the results are very percep- 
tible in the superior forwardness of the scholars. She 
was very intelligent, and clever in her questions to the 
children. The Rector has five schools under his care 
in this parish. We next visited with him the hospital 
of the " Daily Meal Society." This is the only public 
institution the destitute and diseased can resort to ; and 
it is quite insufficient for the wants of the island. It is 
supported by voluntary contributions. A meal of soup 
and bread is served once a day to about eighty persons, 
and there are fourteen or sixteen in-door patients. A 
new large building is erecting for their accommodation. 
At present they live in the moveable wooden houses of 
the country ; an arrangement which appeared to us to 
possess some peculiar advantages over the large wards 
of an hospital, for which it is about to be exchanged. 
Most of the inmates are pitiable objects, afflicted with 
leprosy and elephantiasis, which dreadful disorders are 
nearly, if not quite, confined to the black and coloured 
races. We called in the evening upon James Cox. He 
gave us some pleasing details of the introduction and 
progress of the Temperance reformation. Teetotalism 
appears to adapt itself as readily to this as to a colder 
climate. The Wesleyans have several little Tempe- 
rance Societies on estates. James Cox is deeply inte- 
rested in this cause, and is himself a fine, florid speci- 
men of water drinking. A gentleman, whom we acci- 
dentally met with to-day, read to us part of a letter 
which he had just received from the neighbouring island 
of Nevis. It gave a deplorable account of the condition 
of the apprentices there. Many of them were in a state 
bordering on starvation, because the proprietors had 
given them larger provision grounds, and a day in the 



ANTIGUA. 51 

week to cultivate them, in lieu of their former allow- 
ances, and the dry weather had rendered their grounds 
unproductive. From the same cause, there had been a 
great falling oiF in the attendance of the schools, the 
parents not having food to give their children to take 
with them. The letter concluded by wishing " this 
system of apprenticeship at the bottom of the sea." 

7th. — We went this morning to breakfast with the 
manager of an estate, which furnishes a striking proof 
of what may be done under a free system, liberally ad- 
ministered. He kindly furnished us with some valuable 
statistical information and practical remarks. This 
estate, comprising about 250 acres of cane-ground, pro- 
duced last year 212 heavy hogsheads of sugar, being 
sixty hogsheads more than its average for the last twenty 
years. Amidst the general drought, this and two or 
three adjoining properties were favoured with season- 
able rains. The result completely falsifies the fears ex- 
pressed to us by many planters, that a large crop could 
not be taken off without loss by free labour.* This 
gentleman, on the contrary, says, " Give me a supply of 
cash, and I will take off the largest crop it may please 
Providence to send." The number of efficient labourers 
is rather less than during slavery, but their loss has 
been supplied by the more extensive introduction of 
the plough and task-work, both which are employed to a 
greater extent than on any estate we have yet visited. 
Task-work has also been made the means of obviating 
the inconveniences which result from the present high 
price of provisions; the people earning from 50 to 100 

* A note, received since the commencement of the present year, from 
this gentleman, speaking of the crop about to be taken off, when we left 
Antigua, observes : — " In five weeks we have cut seventy-seven acres of 
canes, made fifty hogsheads, and more than half done crop. So far 
from our people not being willing to labour, I believe they wish they 
had 200 instead of forty more to make. We only want such a year as 
1834, for free labour to iell.^' 



52 ANTIGUA. 

per cent, more than the customary rate of wages. Our 
host assured us, that his people work more regularly than 
during slavery ; a fact which was evident also from an in- 
spection which we were permitted to make of the pay- 
list of the estate, during the earliest period of the free 
system in 1834, and the corresponding months of 1836. 
The increased amounts earned by the same number of 
labourers in the latter period showed an increase of in- 
dustrious exertion. The negro houses on this estate 
are large and comfortable. Some are about to be 
rebuilt at the expense of the proprietor. The attention 
of the people to the cultivation of their own grounds is 
a striking proof of their industry and settled habits. We 
saw a piece of rocky ground which had been taken in 
by permission, and converted into a garden at an im- 
mense expense of labour, both in carrying mould and 
manure to it from a considerable distance, and in en- 
closing it by a stone wall. Their cottages have been 
also generally enclosed by neat fences, since 1834; and 
the whole conduct of the people exhibits as much stabi- 
lity as though their leaving the estate was as unlikely 
to happen as during slavery, when it was nearly an im- 
possible event. There is a neat little chapel on the 
estate, constructed out of one of the largest negro houses, 
in which service is frequently performed on the Sabbath 
by one of the Wesleyan missionaries ; and in which also 
is kept a school for the children, during the long noon 
interval of labour, by a woman remunerated by a trifling 
sum weekly, in addition to the privileges of her house 
and ground rent free. Besides this school, an adult 
class has been voluntarily formed and taught, by a negro 
domestic servant of the manager; and a third school 
has been instituted by the Archdeacon in one of the 
negro houses, chiefly for the adults and elder children 
of this and adjoining estates. On this estate there are 
fourteen mothers of families, who work, on the average. 



ANTIGUA. 53 

only half their time ; and two who have withdrawn alto- 
gether from estate labour. The cash outlay on this 
estate has been upwards of £600 currency (about 
£250 sterling) per annum more than during slavery. 
The crop, however, has averaged considerably more; 
and though this may be attributed to favourable sea- 
sons, yet the manager observes, that " as we plant only 
half the quantity of provisions, the greater part of our 
cane-land may be prepared out of crop, and the canes 
planted in better time. They will also, I am confident, 
be more productive after the land has been in fallow, 
than after provisions. The cattle also get a little more 
feeding." 

Before returning to town we visited another estate in 
the same neighbourhood; the circumstances of which, 
in all important particulars, corresponded with the pre- 
ceding ; and from whose intelligent manager we received 
accounts equally satisfactory of the favourable effects of 
freedom.* The proprietor of it is erecting new works, 

* From a number of answers to some written questions, which we 
proposed to this gentleman, we extract the following: — ** 1st, The 
change in our system is nothing like what might have been imagined. 
As yet, the substitution of reward for punishment, and some faint efforts 
to economise lalour, are all that indicate a change. 2nd, The dif- 
ference of the cost of cultivation varies according to the locality and 
former circumstances of the estates. Some estates used to grow food 
sufficient for their own consumption, without prejudice to their staple 
crop ; a few more than sufficient ; many for six or eight months ; and the 
rest for three or four months. The first class, it is obvious, lose by the 
change ; the second I presume to be at par ; whilst the third are 
decidedly gainers. It is, however, a question, whether the first class will 
be ultimately losers, presuming they continue to fallow such lands as 
were formerly appropriated to the growth of provisions. 3rd, None, 
unacquainted with the negro character and habits, could easily compre- 
hend the way in which, with an income in money of five-pence half- 
penny sterling per day, they manage to exhibit such finery and extrava- 
gance in their dress. To us it is painfully manifest, that this weakness 
is indulged at the expense of all domestic enjoyments and comforts. 
Ordinarily, a mere fraction of their earnings is appropriated to their 
support ; the cheapest and coarsest food, with the addition of herbs, &c., 

F 3 



54 ANTIGUA. 

and thirty new houses for the people, of a very superior 
class, at an expense of several thousand pounds sterling. 
The cottages are being built on three sides of a large 
square, in the centre of which we understood it was in- 
tended to erect a school. The proprietor already sup- 
ports an infant school on the estate, which is held in a 
large room that also serves occasionally as a chapel. The 
children were in the usual state of forwardness. It is 
almost needless to add, that the managers of these two 
estates are men of serious character, and really concerned 
to promote the welfare of their people. They were both 

gathered on the estate will suffice. They take no thought for the future, 
anticipate no evil, provide nothing for sickness and old age, but spend 
all they can obtain in articles of dress, the most extravagant and un- 
suitable to their condition in life. They are yet slaves in habit and 
feeling, and we must not be surprised if it be left for succeeding genera- 
tions to develop the entire blessedness of the change that has passed 
upon us. 4th, Some attention is paid to avoid that waste of labour 
which was but little regarded formerly ; so that manual labour is les- 
sened, though the substitutes for it are not yet extensively employed. 
Our agricultural labours, during the manufacturing months, can only be 
performed by hand. The planting and weeding of canes, to which I 
chiefly allude, have both been attempted by the plough, but unsuccess- 
fully. The consequence of this untoward coincidence is, that a greater 
number of hands must be kept on than we should know well how to 
employ, in combination with an extensive use of the plough and other 
machinery ; and there is such a tenacity respecting our labourers, that 
on no account will we trust them from under our control ; hence some 
estates are burdened with many more than they will employ, yet permit 
them to remain resident, in reserve for future contingencies, whilst 
neighbouring estates are suffering from present want of labourers. 5th, 
The cultivation of the cane has not, so far as I know, either increased or 
lessened. On this estate, a portion of the land formerly appropriated 
to provisions is being brought into the routine of the sugar crop, 
suppose from ten to fifteen acres annually. 6th, The proprietary body 
must, with some exceptions, be bettered by the change, allowing the rise 
in sugar its proper influence. Their credit is better, their capital at 
stake less ; their personal responsibility also less ; their properties are 
increased in value ; their management and appropriation more free and 
uncontrolled. Bankruptcy was written on us in legible characters as an 
island ; and most of the estates must have inevitably passed into the 
possession of the merchants." 



ANTIGUA. 55 

friendly to Emancipation, yet they assured us, in strong 
terms, that the measure had succeeded far beyond their 
utmost expectations. 

In the afternoon we drove over to Parham, a little 
village interesting to us, both as a missionary and police 
station. The Wesleyan minister * is a man of colour, and 
was born a slave in Bermuda. His history is remarkable. 
He is not, we believe, inferior either in education, quali- 
fications, or usefulness, to any of his brethren in the 
ministry. The school under his care is in good order, 
and very numerously attended. The children are all 
emancipated but two ; a circumstance which is employed 
to instil into their breasts sentiments of fervent loyalty. 
They were told we came from England; and asked 
" Who lives in England ?"— " The King." " What has 
the King done for you?" — " He make us free," was re- 
sponded by upwards of a hundred little voices, with the 
greatest enthusiasm. 

The police district of Parham comprises a circle of 
forty estates. The offences are chiefly breach of con- 
tract, trespass, absenting from work, and cane breaking. 
The officers mentioned to us several cases of distress, 
where the parties, becoming unable to work, had been 
compelled to quit the estates. In one instance, a woman 
with three children left the estate on which she was Yor- 
merly a slave, and went to reside with her husband on 
another: she became diseased in her feet, and unable 
to work, and her husband discarded her, although they 
had been regularly married by a Wesleyan minister. She 
and her children were turned off the estate. This is an 
illustration of the consequences of the non- re cognition of 
Dissenters' marriages, and also of there being no public 
resource for the destitute poor. 

9th. — With the Governor's permission we obtained 

* Edward Frazer, who has since visited England. 



56 ANTIGUA. 

some extracts from the police records. We also attended 
another sitting of the Court of King's Bench. We have 
before noticed the character of the proceedings, and the 
leniency of the punishments. The last, we find, is partly 
owing to the expense of transportation and long impri- 
sonments. 

We visited, this morning, a planter who is the lessee of 
Mackinnon's estate, which has been alluded to in the 
British Parliament as an illustration of the economical 
advantages of free labour. 

He gave us much interesting information respecting 
tropical productions. Sugar, molasses, and rum, besides 
a little arrow-root, raised by the negroes, are the only 
articles of export from Antigua. Cotton, indigo, and 
tobacco used to be its staples. The two former plants 
still grow wild in great abundance ; and, as well as many 
others, might probably be made profitable articles of 
commerce. Among these is a species of acacia, which 
bears a great quantity of seed-pods, containing large 
proportions of gallic acid and tannin. The natives made 
ink and a black dye of them ; and they have been ex- 
ported to Europe, but for what purposes and with what 
results, is unknown. Great inconveniences result from 
the exclusive cultivation of the cane : and but few of the 
planters, even since the compensation, are sufficiently 
independent to be able to turn their attention to any 
other article. He alluded in very strong terms to the 
annoyances of the old slave system to proprietors; of 
which he gave us some striking illustrations. It is ap- 
parent that the Abolition Act emancipated both planters 
and negroes. One of the former, on one occasion, 
expressed their connexion with slave property, by an 
allusion to the Siamese Twins — a ligament of unnatural 
inconveniences. This gentleman complained of the 
great ingratitude which some of his negroes, who had 
been very kindly treated, had displayed in leaving him. 



ANTIGUA. 57 

On the other hand, some had been stimulated to more 
industrious habits. One of the most worthless women on 
the property, once always pretending sickness and inabi- 
lity to work, had become as industrious a labourer as 
any on the estate. He asked her on one occasion the 
reason of the change in her habits. She replied, signifi- 
cantly, " Me get no money then, massa." Speaking of 
the apparent increase of crime, he told us that many not 
only minor offences but crimes were left to the summary 
judgment of the master, and that many culprits went 
entirely unpunished. The law took no cognisance of the 
offences of slaves, except such as were of a very heinous 
character, or committed against the public peace. The 
crop had commenced on this estate, being from four to 
six weeks earlier than usual. We inspected, with much 
interest, the various processes at the mill, boiling-house, 
and distillery. The buildings were large, well ventilated, 
and cooler than we had expected to find them. 

10th. — We paid a second visit to the gaol. The con- 
demned cells are small, exceedingly ill ventilated, and 
quite dark. There are at present two occupants of them, 
capitally convicted ; one, whose sentence has been changed 
to banishment ; and another, waiting the result of an ap- 
plication to the authorities at home, on a point of law. 
We visited also the refuge for female orphans in St. 
John's ; an institution similar to the one at English Har- 
bour, but in more active operation. The little girls, 
seventeen in number, were engaged in making straw 
plait. They appeared to be very comfortable and kindly 
attended to. The President of the institution told us, 
that the number of applications for them, as servants, 
was four times greater than they could supply ; and that 
those whom they had brought up had usually done credit 
to their care. They have been, of late years, limited in 
their funds, in consequence of the numerous demands 
made upon the benevolent portion of the public, by 



58 ANTIGUA. 

schools and other more recent institutions. In the pte- 
sent condition of colonial society, establishments like 
these are deserving the warmest encouragement ; as they 
not only provide a maintenance and education for a par- 
ticular class of orphans, but rescue them from a life of 
almost inevitable degradation and profligacy. One insti- 
tution would suffice for this small island. We suggested 
an union of the two at present existing ; which we find 
had been proposed, but not effected. It would save the 
expense of two houses, two sets of instructors, servants, 
&c. There appear to be no material obstacles in the 
way. The junction might be readily brought about by 
the " Ladies' Society," the chief patrons of the Refuge 
at English Harbour. We called in the course of the 
day upon Brother Harvey, at the Moravian Institution. 
He informed us, that though the education of the young 
is now so general, he did not think that more than one- 
tenth of their adult members could read. We spent the 
evening with the gentleman mentioned in our journal of 
the 24th ult. He attributes the advantages Antigua has 
possessed, to the early success which distinguished mis- 
sionary efforts. Sixty years ago the Speaker of the As- 
sembly was a lay preacher of the Gospel ; and there has 
always been, since, a succession of persons who have 
maintained the truth, till at length religion has become 
fashionable ; and it is now no cross to become a church 
member. Some interesting facts were mentioned relative 
to the former and present condition of the negroes. 
During slavery the people declined in numbers, especial- 
ly on the estates near town. This was partly, we were 
told, to be attributed to the fact, that women, in an ad- 
vanced state of pregnancy, after discontinuing estate 
labour, would employ themselves in bringing heavy loads 
of sticks and grass to market, for their own benefit. On 
certain estates, which were named, the slaves declined in 
numbers from 1200 to 800, dating from the abolition 



ANTIGUA. 59 

of the slave-trade. In such cases, it was often impossible 
to contract the cultivation proportionably, in conse- 
quence of the encumbrances of mortgages or settle- 
ments ; so that the diminished number was compelled to 
perform an increased amount of labour ; and thus the 
destructive ratio of decrease was ajccelerated. Some 
striking instances were mentioned to us of the extrava- 
gance of negro weddings. Some of them must absorb a 
year or two of the income of the parties, if they are not 
paid for, as they probably are, by general contribution 
amongst their friends. Many live together unmarried, 
because they cannot afford this foolish expenditure ; but 
it is an evil which would be checked, in some degree, if 
Dissenters were allowed to perform the ceremony. 

12th. — We visited, this morning, an estate about twelve 
miles distant from St. John's, in the district called Ber- 
mudian Valley. It was purchased by two gentlemen, 
immediately after the 1st of August, 1834 ; and though a 
losing concern to its former proprietor, now yields, as we 
were informed by one of its present owners, a liberal profit 
per annum, clear of expenses and interest. Our route 
was through the finest part of the island. We had little 
conception that any part of Antigua was so beautiful as 
the quarter in which this estate is situated. The hills 
are of considerable elevation, and covered with forest. 
The climate is less arid, the natural vegetation far more 
luxuriant. The stiff soil does not, however, so well repay 
cultivation as the light calcareous mould of the other 
less interesting, but more profitable parts of the island. 
Another estate, and part of the one we visited, occupy 
an entire basin of great extent, and the surrounding am- 
phitheatre of hills. On such properties the negroes are 
allowed to cultivate any part of the woodland they please, 
for their own benefit. Their distance from town, how- 
ever, prevents them from making much pecuniary profit 
of this privilege. They generally choose their ground on 



60 ANTIGUA. 

the sides of the mountains, as far out of sight as possible : 
a remnant, as was observed to us, of slavery, when they 
were always afraid to let the overseer know what they 
were doing. This is one of the estates that has derived 
advantage from the accession of labourers since Emanci- 
pation, The number on the pay-list is exactly 100, and 
their attendance in the field is very regular. The ma- 
nager complained that he had not yet been able to induce 
them to undertake task-work. The habitual distrust of 
the negro, and his ignorance of calculation, frequently 
interpose obstacles to the substitution of task- work, which 
managers have not always the patience and tact to re- 
move. 

We proceeded about noon to Grace Bay, a station of 
the United Brethren, very beautifully situated on the 
sea coast, opposite Montserrat. We were kindly wel- 
comed by the missionaries. Brother Mohne and his wife. 
Their school is held in the church, and is attended by 
seventy children ; there were but forty present this morn- 
ing. Many come from a great distance, as this part of 
the island is much less thickly peopled than any other. 
About one-third of the children could read well in the 
New Testament; and their teacher, a young negress, 
questioned them in such a way as to show that she might 
soon be qualified to conduct an infant school efficiently. 
We drove to town, through a very beautiful district, 
abounding with some of the most interesting tropical 
trees and shrubs, particularly with singular and gigantic 
varieties of the cactus tribe. The poisonous manchineel 
is in great abundance by the sea shore ; and, like other 
large trees, frequently loaded with creepers, and parasit- 
ical plants. We called, on our way, at Cedar Hall ; thus 
completing our circuit of the Moravian stations in this 
island, which has been the scene of their most successful 
labours. Two of the Brethren are stationed here — one 
of them is seventy-four years of age, and has been thirty 



ANTIGUA. 61 

years resident. He is probably the oldest missionary in 
the West Indies. He told us, that when he came out, 
the missionaries dare not be known to keep a school, 
but taught a few by stealth on one evening in the week. 

12th. — One of us called this morning upon Samuel 
Warner, President of the Council, whose testimony, 
like that of the speaker, was decidedly favourable to the 
results of the Emancipation. There was not much dif- 
ference, he thought, in the expense of cultivating his 
estate before and since 1834. The negroes did less than 
before, when they worked by the day, but much more 
when they were on task-work. Lately, a field of cane- 
holes was opened on the latter plan, by a gang of his 
people, consisting of fewer than twenty to the acre, in 
the same space of time that would have been taken by 
forty to the acre under the slave system. 

15th. — We called this morning upon the Governor to 
take leave, and to thank him for his kindness in forward- 
ing our views, by permitting us access to the records of 
the Police Offices, and Court of King's Bench, &c. He 
mentioned to us, that a gentleman, who was a proprietor, 
and also attorney for sixteen estates, and who had been 
strongly opposed to Emancipation, had lately told him, 
that he was at length satisfied with the change, and 
would be sorry to return to the slave system. In the 
course of the morning we were surprised and pleased by 
the arrival of two gentlemen of the names of Thome 
and Kimball, from the United States, on a tour of 
inquiry like our own, into the results of Emancipation 
in these islands. We trust they will find the way opened 
to them, in some degree, by our previous investigation. 
Several gentlemen called upon us to take leave, and we 
made a number of calls with the same object. In the 
evening we went on board a little schooner, chartered 
to convey us through the islands to Barbadoes. In thus 
concluding the journal of our visit to Antigua, we 

G 



62 ANTIGUA. 

acknowledge, with thankfulness, that amidst many dis- 
couragements we have been enabled to pursue our 
inquiries with a good degree of success; and we trust 
w^e shall be assisted by a strength, not of ourselves, in 
the much more arduous undertaking we have imme- 
diately in prospect, in the islands where the apprentice- 
ship is in operation. We should not do justice to our 
own feelings, if we did not record here our grateful sense 
of the readiness displayed by all classes in the Colony, 
to afford us facilities of inquiry. 



CHAPTER IV. 



RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION IN ANTIGUA. 

Antigua, being the only one of our intertropical co- 
lonies which has substituted for the apprenticeship 
complete Emancipation, a careful and even minute ex- 
amination of the results of that great measure, after 
more than two years of trial, is confessedly of the very 
highest importance. In the preceding pages * we have 
recorded our observations during a stay of four weeks ; 
and though we have already incurred the risk of weary- 
ing the reader by detail, a large additional amount of 
evidence in our possession has been omitted, illustra- 
tive of the various points embraced in the investigation. 
Our opportunities of personal observation were exten- 
sive. We availed ourselves of the access publicly af- 
forded to the Legislative Assembly, the Chief Criminal 
Court, the Police Offices, the places of worship, and 
the different schools. We had also the privilege of free 
communication with the most intelligent and influential 
persons in the Colony; with the Governor, and others 
high in office ; with members of the council and assem- 
bly; judges, barristers, and medical men; ministers of 
religion, and schoolmasters; proprietors and managers 
of estates; persons of colour; and, lastly, the negroes 
themselves. There is one subject upon which all are 
agreed — that the great experiment of Abolition has suc- 
ceeded beyond the expectations of its most sanguine 
advocates. Some, indeed, affect to regard the future 

* And also in Appendix, page 349, &c. 



64 RESULTS OF 

with apprehension, but none will deny that the new 
system has hitherto worked well, or will hazard a decla- 
ration of preference for slavery. Many speak in em- 
phatic terms of the annoyances they have escaped by 
the change, and of the comparative comfort with which 
they now manage their estates. The measure has been 
felt to be one of emancipation of masters as well as 
slaves, from a most oppressive bondage, except by such 
as clung to their authority with a tenacious avarice of 
power, and are not yet weaned from a love of dominion. 
It may be asserted, also, without fear of contradiction, 
that the proprietors are, in a pecuniary sense, far more 
prosperous than before Emancipation, notwithstanding 
the occurrence, subsequently, of two successive un- 
favourable seasons, and independently of the compensa- 
tion they have received. The annual cost of cultivation 
is believed, by the most intelligent resident planters, to 
be, on the average, one-fifth or one-sixth less than for- 
merly, so that free labour is manifestly advantageous, 
taking even the narrowest view of the subject.* The 
general advantages, however, of the change, imperfectly 
as they have been yet developed, would have more than 
compensated for a considerably increased expenditure. 
There has been an augmentation of the import trade of 
the island. Houses and land have risen in value. Es- 
tates are nov/ worth as much as they were, with the 
slaves attached to them, before the alleged depreciation 
in their value, in consequence of the agitation of the 
Abolition question. The cultivation of one estate, which 
had been thrown up for twenty years, and of others 
which were on the point of being abandoned, has been 
resumed. The few sold since 1834 have been eagerly 
bought up at very high prices. The estates which were 
over-populated have largely benefited by the dismission 

* See Appendix, page 352. 



EMANCIPATION IN ANTIGUA. 65 

of their superfluous numbers, whilst the under peopled 
properties have profited by availing themselves of the 
labour thus thrown into the market. The credit of 
planters with their merchants is much improved. A 
purchasing as well as consuming population has been 
formed within the island itself. The negroes buy con- 
siderable quantities of provisions from the plantation 
stores, and occasionally other agricultural produce. The 
success of Emancipation on the different estates has been, 
to a great extent, determined by the character of the 
managers- It has been most distinguished, when an 
enlightened and indulgent course has been pursued to- 
wards the people. There are, indeed, some striking 
exceptions to the general prosperity, of which several 
fine estates, belonging to a wealthy English baronet, 
present the m.ost painful example. These were under 
the care of an attorney* from Barbadoes, who adopted 
a system of such excessive severity, that the number of 
slaves was diminished by nearly one hundred in a few 
years. He was accustomed to complain that none of 
the children were reared, notwdthstanding his great 
anxiety for their welfare, and frequent consultations of 
the faculty. He commenced the new era on the 1st of 
August, 1834, by turning the cattle of the estates into 
the negro provision grounds, and endeavoured to reduce 
their wages to a minimum. In consequence of which 
conduct, the majority of his effective labourers forsook 
the estate to seek a subsistence elsewhere. The lands 
are now overrun with destructive weeds: and though 
this attorney is since dead, and his successor has adopted 
a different policy, it will be many years before what has 
been thus mismanaged can be recovered. 

The prospective advantages of freedom are, however, 

* An attorney, in colonial phraseology, is one who holds a power cf 
attorney for managing the affairs of an absent proprietor. 

G a 



C6 RESULTS OF 

far greater than any thing hitherto accomplished. No 
one will venture to compare slave labourers, in point 
of efficiency, with the agricultural population of a free 
country. The negroes, although free by law, are still 
necessarily located on the estates, and therefore pre- 
vented by circumstances from rapidly becoming a body 
of independent peasantry. They, evince, however, a 
disposition to elevate themselves in the social scale, by 
their anxiety to purchase or lease small lots of land: 
few, indeed, have thus succeeded, in consequence of a 
groundless fear of their forsaking estate labour; yet, 
doubtless, the true interests of the proprietary body will 
at length prevail over prejudice; and two great classes 
of landlords and yeomen, at present unknown in the 
colonies, will be gradually formed.* Under present 
arrangements the estates are burdened, during the 
whole year, with the support of the full complement 
of labourers required during the crop, which is a great 
check to the introduction of animal labour and ma- 
chinery. The manufacturing processes, occurring at a 
season when labour is never in excess, are many years 
in advance of the methods of agriculture which continue 
to be carried on by two or three times the immediate 
amount of human labour which would be required under 
a more perfect system. Great improvements in farming, 
and particularly the extensive introduction of, and best 
mode of working the plough; together with a change 
of the present unvarying routine of cultivation by the 
alternation of green and cereal crops with the cane, 
have long ago been demonstrated to be necessary and 
practicable ; and particularly by Dr. Nugent, in an 
able paper, drawn up several years ago, and adopted as 
their Report by the Antigua Agricultural Association. 
Slavery, however, interposed insuperable obstacles to 

"^^ See Appendix, page 3G7. 



EMANCIPATION IN ANTIGUA. 67 

change. Free labour, on the contrary, will give an 
energetic impulse to improvement. In cases of in- 
solvency or mismanagement, the weekly amounts for 
labourers' wages, though less in the aggregate than the 
cost of their former allowances, will bring about a crisis 
before the estates become so inextricably involved, as 
was frequent during slavery. The embarrassed planter 
will no longer have the opportunity of purchasing his 
annual supplies of food and clothing for his negroes, at 
usurious prices. His estates will pass in time into other 
hands, which can carry on the cultivation efficiently. It 
is anticipated that the present expensive and absurd 
system of agency and management will be gradually 
changed, by absentee proprietors leasing their estates to 
tenants, or other representatives, who will thus acquire, 
as a resident proprietary, a direct interest in the im- 
provement of the island. The planters will gradually 
release themselves from their servile dependence on the 
merchants. Under the present system, with a few ex- 
ceptions, they are obliged to consign their produce to 
one mercantile house, instead of being able to choose 
the best market. They pay commissions more nu- 
merous and exorbitant than are known in any other 
branch of commerce; they are compelled to purchase 
plantation stores from their merchant at a high rate ; 
they pay compound interest on the advances required; 
and, finally, they are most injuriously controlled in the 
management of their property, as they are limited to 
the cultivation of such articles as bring profitable 
freights to the ship-owners, and commissions to the 
merchants. 

The advantages which the labourers have derived 
from Emancipation are numerous and complete enough 
to call for devout gratitude, on their behalf, from all 
who are interested in the progress of human happiness. 
The exuvice of slavery still hang about them, as well as 



68 RESULTS OF 

their masters, but they possess now the capacity of ele- 
vating themselves in the scale of being, and they have 
means in their own power of escaping from oppression, 
by the choice of masters. A cursory observer might 
suppose there was little to distinguish the agricultural 
districts from a slave community, seen under favourable 
circumstances, except the absence of the vulgar symbols 
of coercive power; but inquiry would convince him, 
that the one was a degraded condition which could at 
best, by the most painful efforts, scarcely maintain the 
status quo^ while the other contained active elements of 
prosperity. When the change took place, the masters 
were as little acquainted with the respect due to the 
rights of their free peasantry as the latter with the exer- 
cise of their new-born prerogatives. A combination 
was entered into to destroy competition for labour, by 
enforcing a low and uniform tariff of wages. This suc- 
ceeded for a time, but it was soon perceived, that though 
the planters might agree to pay able-bodied labourers a 
shilling a day, (fivepence-halfpenny sterling,) they no 
longer possessed the power of compelling them to per- 
form more than a fair equivalent of labour. This agree- 
ment, therefore, is now evaded in a variety of ways ; some 
openly disregard it, others bid higher for the Saturday 
holidays of the labourer, and others supersede day-labour 
by contract or task- work. In the first year, caprice was 
frequently manifested on the one hand, and a love of 
oppression on the other; but in this, the third year of 
freedom, the records of the Police Courts show that 
both have materially decreased. The planters have 
little cause now to complain of love of change, want of 
industry, or irregular attendance on the part of their 
labourers ; and the latter are less frequently annoyed by 
frivolous complaints before the magistrate. Freedom is 
*' an ever-germinating principle ;" its gradual and pro- 
gressive operation, rather than the amount of good, con- 



EMANCIPATION IN ANTIGUA. 69 

siderable as it is, which has hitherto been effected, 
marks the contrast in Antigua between the present and 
the past. 

To appreciate fully the results of Emancipation, it is 
necessary to revert to the evils of the, state it succeeded. 
At a distance, the physical sufferings of slaves from direct 
cruelty and from the exaction of oppressive labour, are 
the most vividly reahsed by the imagination ; but, in 
the presence of an enslaved people, the consideration of 
these is almost superseded by that of their moral degra- 
dation. As a citizen, a slave has no existence ; and 
therefore neither rights nor duties. As a private indi- 
vidual, he has no responsibilities, no cares for the pre- 
sent or the future ; nothing to stimulate his dormant 
intellectual energies into life. He has no filial or 
parental duties. His wife and children depend not on 
his exertions or his love for their comfort or subsistence ; 
they belong not to him, but to their owner, whose care 
it is to provide for their animal wants. A slave has no 
power of self-protection but his skill in lying and decep- 
tion. He has no property but by sufferance, and is 
therefore feebly impressed with a sense of the rights of 
property in others. He is exposed to a continual system 
of selfish fraud ; no one keeps faith with him, and he is 
therefore filled with suspicion and distrust. Labour, a 
great blessing in disguise to man, brings him no wealthy 
comfort, or honour. It is degraded in his eyes by asso- 
ciations of coercion and punishment. Domestic comfort 
is unknown. Husbands and wives are not helpmates to 
one another ; they rarely reside in the same hut, or even 
on the same estate ; for a slave does not, more than an 
European, choose his partner from the females of his 
own village. They work in the field without distinction 
of sex. The decencies of civilised life are to a most 
revolting and guilty extent unobserved. Wives and 
daughters are subject to the brutal caprice and absolute 



70 RESULTS OF 

will of their owners. The sacred character of the mar- 
riage tie is therefore little understood, or lightly esteemed. 
Such is an imperfect catalogue of the evils of slavery. 
As far as a system can degrade man to the level of the 
lower creation, he is so animalised by slavery, that the 
most successful efforts of missionaries and teachers, and 
even of humane proprietors, can only palliate its in- 
herent malignity. The Antigua negroes, as a body, 
are not elevated above the stage of moral and intellec- 
tual childhood. Their character is distinguished by 
shrewdness, by petty vice, great want of reflection, and 
above all by distrust. They are, however, in a rapid 
course of improvement. They are gaining prudence 
and foresight from the influence of newly acquired 
responsibilities. They feel the security of their pro- 
perty. They are acquiring domestic habits. Marriages 
are more frequent. Husbands and wives begin to dwell 
together, and mothers of families to withdraw from field 
labour to their household affairs, — germs of rising 
character, which contain most encouraging promises of 
advancement. 

There is, probably, at the present moment, a larger 
proportion of persons under the pastoral care of mi- 
nisters of religion, and also of children receiving educa- 
tion in the schools, than in any part of the parent 
country. A mere perusal of the religious and educa- 
tional statistics of the island, unaccompanied by expla- 
nation, would, however, convey incorrect ideas of its state 
in both these respects. The children in the schools 
are very docile, and give abundant proofs of natural 
quickness and capacity. They easily acquire the more 
mechanical parts of learning, as reciting, singing, read- 
ing, and writing. Opportunity is rarely afforded them 
of advancing beyond a certain point, as they enjoy 
only the benefits of the routine of the English infant 
and Lancasterian systems. Their native instructors, as 



EMANCIPATION IN ANTIGUA. 71 

a body, are inefficient, though many of them display 
talent, and a capacity for becoming, with the usual advan- 
tages of normal instruction, both able and intelligent 
teachers. At present, the intelligent instruction which 
the children receive, is chiefly communicated by their 
ministers and others, whose attendance, from the pres- 
sure of their more immediate duties, is necessarily irre- 
gular. This subject is the more important, on account 
of the interesting position which Antigua maintains 
among the leeward islands. The neighbouring colonies, 
whence the sons of respectable persons of colour are 
frequently sent to this island for education, are now- 
looking to her for a supply of teachers for the offspring 
of their apprentice population, and a few, such as 
they are, have already been sent to Montserrat and 
elsewhere. 

The state of Antigua, as regards the public peace, 
would also be erroneously inferred from an unexplained 
statistical comparison of criminal calendars and police 
records. There has been an apparent increase of 
offences, owing to the fact, that Emancipation gave 
nearly thirty thousand citizens to the state; and that 
the magistrate now takes formal cognisance of offences 
which previously were summarily punished by the 
master. A large proportion of the middle class, in the 
towns, are people of colour, many of whom are persons 
of intelligence, education, and true respectability. The 
standard of morals is far more elevated among them, as 
well as the whites, than in the other colonies, though 
still in some respects lamentably below that of the 
mother country. The Sabbath is, however, more strictly 
observed than in England, and the attendance on public 
worship very exemplary. Although the island suffers 
from absenteeism, it has proportionably a more nume- 
rous resident proprietary than any other colony except 
Barbadoes. To this circumstance has been attributed. 



72 EMANCIPATION IN ANTIGUA. 

with apparent justice, its adoption of the complete abo- 
lition of slavery, in preference to the apprenticeship ; 
the legislatures of the other islands being filled with attor- 
neys, who form themselves a part of existing abuses, and 
whose interests are wholly identified with the mainte- 
nance of the present order of things. 

We cannot conclude without observing, that though 
it is impossible to convey upon paper the strong im- 
pression on our own minds of the benefits which have 
resulted to all classes from immediate Emancipation, 
yet that those benefits would be greatly increased by 
such reforms as the Government at home might effect 
in the legislative and administrative departments of the 
Colony.* It is not, however, our intention to reflect with 
undue severity on the local authorities. Their enlight- 
ened policy, in substituting a real Emancipation for the 
delusive measure of the Imperial Parliament, will claim 
for them the praise of future ages, and the gratitude of 
the African race in every part of the world. 

* See Appendix, page 349, &c. 



i 



CHAPTER V. 



MONTSERRAT. 

\2th Month, I6th, (December) 1836. 

We made the short passage from Antigua to Mont- 
serrat in the night, and landed early this morning at 
Plymouth, the town and port of the island. We met 
here Henry Loving, who was filling temporarily the 
office of Island Secretary. He is known in England as 
the delegate of the people of colour in Antigua, and 
the able and successful advocate of their claims. We 
were also introduced to Francis BuAe, a gentleman of 
uncommon intelligence and enterprise ; he has been the 
importer of the Acasee seeds into England, which we 
have before mentioned as possessing the quality of 
Aleppo galls. The speculation failed, in consequence, 
as he believes, of the mismanagement of the party to 
whose care they were consigned. He has also been con- 
cerned in working the SouiFrieres in Montserrat and 
Dominica. The ore in the latter contains seventy-two 
per cent of sulphur ; in the former it is less pure. It 
has been shipped to America at a cost, on board, of four 
dollars per ton. The expense of freight forbids its being 
sent to England. His attention is at present occupied 
with the introduction of mulberry trees and silkworms. 
These succeed well in the neighbouring French colony 
of Guadaloupe, where several thousand pounds weight 
of silk of the first quahty, were last year produced. It 
promises to be a valuable colonial product, as its intro- 
duction would supply work of a light description for the 
population of the towns, and for young and infirm per- 

H 



74 MONTSERRAT. 

sons, who are quite unfit for severe field labour. Our 
inforaiant took us to see his mulberry trees, which, 
though raised within the last ten months from seed, are 
already large flourishing bushes; they are the white 
variety. Whilst we were examining them, the President 

of the island, Henry Hamilton, and Polhill, 

Collector of Customs, passed, with whom we were made 
acquainted, and who kindly gave us some information in 
addition to what we had already learned in Antigua, re- 
specting the measure introduced last year into the legisla- 
ture of this Colony, for the abolition of the remaining term 
of apprenticeship. The Bill passed the Council, but was 
lost in the Assembly by a majority of one, in conse- 
quence of some of the representatives being proprietors 
of jobbing or task-gangs. Their profit from their la- 
bourers would have entirely ceased by Emancipation, 
instead of being increased, like those of the owners of 
estates, by the change of apprentices into free labourers. 
On the rejection of the Bill, three of the members of 
the Council, and two other proprietors, adopted it indivi- 
dually, by releasing their apprentices from further ser- 
vitude. The policy which originated the measure was 
of a selfish character. The planters had made an agree- 
ment with their negroes, to allow them provision grounds 
and two entire days, besides the Sabbath, in lieu of all 
allowances; the latter performing the legal amount of 
forty hours labour per week, in four days of ten hours 
each. This arrangement is, under ordinary circum- 
stances, as compared wdth other colonies, a very advan- 
tageous one for the apprentices ; but about a year ago, 
a hurricane, followed by a severe drought, so completely 
destroyed their grounds, that the planters feared they 
would be obliged to support them by rations according 
to the provisions of the Leeward Islands' Amelioration 
Act. They therefore proposed to surrender the appren- 
ticeship. The five estates on which the apprentices 



MONTSERRAT. /D 

were liberated are quite as efficiently cultivated by free 
labour as they were before. 

The Collector informed us, that the imports of the 
island had greatly increased since 1834, which was owing, 
he said, to the payment of wages to the labourers on 
these five estates, and on four others on which the ap- 
prentices receive wages, but remain attached to the soil, 
and under the authority of the stipendiary. The rate 
is a bitt a day, (four-pence sterling,) and two bitts for 
the Saturday. The other apprentices in the island fre- 
quently work on the estates on the Friday and Satur- 
day, which are their own days. They prefer working 
for wages, although they have fine provision grounds. 
F. Burke says he finds no difficulty, by offering a trifle 
more than the customary rate, in procuring labourers to 
pick the pods of the thorny Acasee, and to work the 
Souffriere; one of them a most disagreeable, and the 
other a most laborious employment. Although there 
are extensive, unoccupied lands, which they might obtain 
at a very cheap rate, the apprehension, so general in the 
colonies similarly situated, that the negroes will quit the 
estates when free, does not exist in Montserrat. 

We called in the course of the morning upon J. Col- 
lins, Rector of the principal parish, who is zealous in his 
endeavours to promote the good of the people ; and also 

upon the resident Wesleyan minister, Walton, an 

intelligent and energetic missionary. The moral state 
of the apprentices is very degraded, in consequence of 
the dreadful example of the white and coloured classes. 
Some improvement, however, has taken place within 
these few years. Marriage is becoming more general 
among the apprentices, though a great majority still live 
in concubinage. Many of those who are church mem- 
bers afford indisputable evidences of piety. They 
display a lively gratitude to their spiritual teachers, of 
which the following is an affecting instance. A rumour 



76 MONTSERRAT. 

prevailed in the island that the Rector was going to 
leave it ; a number of his apprentice congregation came 
to him, to entreat him to stay, and offering as an induce- 
ment to provide him a house free of expense from their 
scanty means. Happily, their alarm was groundless. 
Nominal education is general in the Colony, but the 
want of teachers and of school-houses is severely felt; 
the native instructors are very inefficient and irregular 
in their attendance. The legislature has passed an Act 
authorising the Wesleyans to perform the marriage cere- 
mony, and legalising those heretofore celebrated by 
them. The missionary informed us that he had lately 
visited Guadaloupe, where he had been courteously 
received by many planters, to whom he had introduced 
himself as a Protestant missionary. He describes them 
as tremblingly alive to the progress of Emancipation in 
our colonies. They appeared to have given up the idea 
of preventing the Abolition of Slavery, and were only 
fearful that their Government would grant them no com- 
pensation. A commission was lately sent to Antigua, 
which, to the surprise of the French colonists, reported 
favourably on their return of the working of the free 
system. The head of it was immediately despatched to 
France with his Report. 

We attended the sitting of the House of Assembly 
and Council. The latter usually meets with closed 
doors ; but through the politeness of the Collector, who 
is a member of it, one of us was permitted to be present, 
and in the intervals of business received various inte- 
resting statements from the gentlemen present. Several 
of them expressed their willingness to abandon the 
apprenticeship, if the four and a half per cent duties 
were remitted, or any equivalent encouragement held 
ou t to them by Government. One, who had introduced 
on his estate a system of remuneration and task-work 
observed, that the negroes now did more work in six 



MONTSERRAT. 77 

days than formerly in eighteen. Another, the owner 
and attorney of several estates, observed, that his people 
did more work in the last two days in the week for 
which they received wages, than in the other four ; and 
a third, who had conferred complete freedom on his 
apprentices, said that they were more industrious than 
before, and that his property suffered less from pilfer- 
ing. In reply to an inquiry whether the emancipated 
negroes showed any gratitude for the boon of freedom, 
it was observed by one of the non-emancipationists, that 
they well knew it was self-interest that dictated the 
measure. The Assembly was composed of a majority 
of persons of colour. The business of the House to- 
day was of little interest or importance, being chiefly 
the petty details of the Poor Law expenses of the 
island. We were told that it was liberal in its general 
policy, and transacted affairs in a business-like man- 
ner. After the breaking-up of the legislature, we were 
introduced to Dr. Dyett, the Speaker of the Assembly ; 
he is one of the few of his class who lends his support 
to the cause of religion and morality in the Colony. He 
kindly gave his company to us for half an hour, though 
the prevalence of an epidemic creates pressing calls upon 
his time. Montserrat has always hitherto been numbered 
among the healthy islands, being free from marshes and 
swamps ; but during the last three years fever has pre- 
vailed, which Dr. Dyett attributes to the introduction of 
a prepared compost from England by a large absentee 
proprietor. This practice would seem a very useless and 
unprofitable way of manuring land, in a country abound- 
ing with pasturage and rank vegetation, and which would 
apparently afford means of forming compost in any quan- 
tity by the keeping of stock. The fever this year at- 
tacked 600 persons, and has been fatal in about one case 
in thirty. It was prevaiUng in three of the families we 
visited this morning. Dr. Dyett gave us a deplorable 

h'3 



78 MONTSERRAT. 

account of the prevalence of intemperate habits. The 
free negroes and apprentices are much addicted to rum, 
which is the greatest bar to their moral advancement. 
He confirmed a singular fact, which came under our 
notice in Antigua, by stating, that on the emancipated 
estates in this Colony, and on those where wages are paid, 
the necessity for his professional attendance had very 
much diminished. We next called at the office of the 
stipendiary magistrate. He had just disposed of the 
cases brought before him. He informed us that his 
duties were becoming less onerous by the decrease of 
offences. He observed, also, that the apprentices dis- 
played a love of dress, and that money was become quite 
a necessary to them ; and that though they could easily 
maintain themselves by working during their own two 
days in their ample grounds, yet they usually preferred 
to be employed on the estates for wages. Their own 
time was, however, sometimes borrowed by their masters ; 
in which case they were often greatly defrauded in the 
repayment of it. He showed us, in his rough journal, an 
instance where the complaints from one estate in one 
month extended over two pages and a half; and where 
next month they were nearly comprised in as many lines. 
The estate was under the attorneyship of a member of 
the Council, who put it under the care of a brutal manager. 
Such representations were accordingly made, through Sir 
Evan MacGregor, to the Colonial Office, as brought 
directions from thence to remove his employer from the 
Council, unless he were dismissed. His consequent dis- 
missal explained the striking decrease of complaints above 
noticed. Some managers had endeavoured to make 
women, in an advanced state of pregnancy perform their 
full quota of work ; but the stipendiary had insisted upon 
allowing them six weeks before, and six weeks after confine- 
ment, as was usual during slavery. In one case a woman 
was brought before him late at night ; not aware of her 



MOXTSERRAT. 79 

situation, he directed her to be locked up, intending to 
investigate her case in the morning. She was seized with 
the pains of labour, and delivered in the course of the 
night. The complaint against her was refusing to icork. 
Both the magistrate and another gentleman who was 
present, agreed that there had been a large proportion of 
deaths among the free children ; but as no registers were 
kept, there was no means of ascertaining the exact truth. 
If the payment of the compensation had been deferred 
till the end of the apprenticeship, they believed that 
many Uves would have been saved, as the greatest care 
would have been taken of the children and old people. 
The slave population of Montserrat, when the Apprentice- 
ship Act came into operation, was 6401 ; of whom 1130 
were freed on the 1st of August, being under six years 
of age; of the others, 2928 are females, and 2163 males. 
The remaining 180 includes those who have been since 
manumitted, as well as a considerable number who have 
been sold to Demerara. This disgraceful traffic has been 
successfully carried on in this little and poverty-stricken 
Colony; the ignorant apprentices having been induced 
by presents of a few dollars, and delusive representations, 
to have themselves appraised. The money is advanced 
by the apprentice trader, who immediately takes them 
on board his ship, where they receive a mock form of 
manumission, and then indent themselves to servitude in 
British Guiana. Many of the proprietors have set their 
faces against these proceedings: but others, of whom a 
few are in high station, have countenanced them, and 
have themselves driven a lucrative trade in the sinews of 
their apprentices. As we had reason to beheve that in 
many of the colonies the apprentices had been fraudu- 
lently classified, we inquired of various persons, and find 
that all the plantation negroes were returned by the 
valuers as predial attached labourers, by which this island, 
on the supposition that the other colonies were more 



80 MONTSERRAT. 

honest, obtained a disproportionate share of the compen- 
sation. There is also every reason to fear, that when the 
1st of August, 1838, arrives, the domestics, and tradesmen 
or mechanics on the plantations, will be detained in ser^ 
vitude, or obtain their freedom, according as their owners 
are conscientious or otherwise. This will assuredly occur 
if the Government do not take into their own hands this 
important subject. The apprentices have no voice to 
plead their own wrongs, and we fear the stipendiary will 
fail them, when they most need his protection, as he is 
in some degree under planter influence, in consequence 
of his holding the appointment, conferred by the Presi- 
dent, of sergeant of pohce, at a salary of £110 currency, 
(£48 sterling,) per annum, from the island treasury. By 
this reconciliation of obviously incompatible functions 
in his own person, he receives, as sergeant, orders from 
himself as magistrate ; and is responsible also to himself, 
as magistrate, for his good behaviour as sergeant. Again, 
as sergeant of police he apprehends an offending appren- 
tice ; as magistrate decides the case ; and as sergeant 
executes his own sentence. 

The President administering the government of Mont- 
serrat is himself a planter and apprentice-holder. The 
constitution of the Assembly is more liberal than in An- 
tigua, as the elective franchise is a forty- shilling freehold. 
The courts of law, however, are of the same character as 
in that island, but still more objectionable on account of 
the smallness of the community. 

We were fortunate, during our brief stay, in having 
the opportunity of attending a sitting of the legislature, 
and also in meeting nearly every person in the Colony, 
official or otherwise, who could afford us information. 
Many of the persons we conversed with freely expressed 
to us their opinion, that the apprenticeship was the only 
bar to a revival of the prosperity of the island. The 
ministers of religion are looking forward to 1840 for a 



MONTSERRAT. 81 

great extension of their usefulness. We fear there is 
little hope of the measure of complete Abolition before 
referred to being re-introduced, in consequence of the 
money value of the apprentices having been so much in- 
creased by the speculations of the Demerara traders. 
When we re-embarked in the evening, Robert Dyett, 
our landlord, and a man of colour, refused any compen- 
sation for our entertainment, in consequence of his con- 
sidering us associated with those in England who have 
always manifested a sympathy with his class, (when 
loaded with disabilities,) as well as with the slaves. 



CHAPTER VI. 



DOMINICA. 

I2th Month, 19M, {December) 1836. 

The voyage from Montserrat to this island is fre- 
quently performed in less than twenty-four hours, but 
we encountered such boisterous weather, that we did 
not arrive at Roseau till this morning. Saihng in a 
small vessel, with contrary winds, in a heavy sea, is not 
the smallest of the miseries of human life, so at least 
one is apt to think while it endures. We were too sea- 
sick to be sensible of danger, but our captain told us, he 
never before experienced such weather in these seas, 
and our little schooner lost a jib, and sustained some 
injury in her sails. 

In the course of the morning we visited the prison. 
The tread-mill was under repair. The keeper of the 
jail admitted, that the man who superintended it, when 
in use, carried a cat; but he would not acknowledge 
that it was used, except to a trifling extent. The pri- 
soners are put upon it fourteen times a day, for fifteen 
minutes each time. The upper rooms of the prison are 
airy and large, but too many persons are confined in 
each; the lower range are equally large; but close, 
crowded, and ill-ventilated. The present number of 
prisoners is thirty-five. We next called on the Rector, 
George Clarke. He is much impressed with the im- 
portance of education. Nearly the whole population 
are Roman Catholic, and speak the French language; 
yet the desire for education, and the wish to learn Eng- 



DOMINICA. 83 

lish, are so general, that he has no doubt he would be 
able to fill eight or ten schools, if the means were sup- 
plied to build them and to pay teachers. Much of the 
good he has been able to effect has been by education. 
The natural obstacles which the mountainous character 
of the island, and the isolation of the estates present to 
his extended efforts, are very great, but they are not 
insuperable. He believes, also, that the negroes would 
come to learn, notwithstanding their different language 
and religion ; they would choose the best school as they 
choose the cheapest store. The Rector took us to see 
an infant school, and also two schools for boys and girls. 
In the former, the children learn little besides the very 
first elements, and the usual recitations and motions; 
but they acquire, what are very important, habits of 
order and attention, and the English language. They 
are then removed into the upper schools. The children 
in these read surprisingly well, considering that most of 
them have had to surmount the difficulty of learning a 
foreign language. They are also proficient in spelling 
and the tables, and the specimens of their writing 
shown to us were very neat. In point of intelligence 
and general proficiency, they would bear a favourable 
comparison with the children in the best schools we 
visited in Antigua. A large proportion of them, how- 
ever, are children of parents in the middle class, who 
ought to pay for their instruction. The attendance in 
the three schools was about one hundred; but neajlv as 
many, we were told, had been kept away by the stormy 
weather this morning. There is another school at St. 
Joseph's, under the Rector's care, also attended by 
about one hundred. From a memorandum furnished us 
by C. A. Fillan, an intelligent young man of colour, it 
appears, that the Wesieyan Society, of which he is a 
member, have one large Sunday-school in Roseau, a 
day school at Prince Rupert's, seven or eight noon and 



84 DOMINICA. 

night schools on estates, in which children are taught by 
the negro who can read best; and also "at Layou, a 
competent free man has lately been sent to instruct 
seven or eight, in order to qualify them to teach. He 
also gives lessons to the children, but he cannot be sup- 
ported long." 

We introduced ourselves, in the course of the day, to 
William Lynch, one of the stipendiary magistrates. He 
is a man of colour, and justly valued by those who have 
the pleasure of his friendship, both in England and the 
West Indies, for his intelligence and piety. He told us, 
that the duties of the stipendiaries have become less 
onerous from the decrease of complaints. The appren- 
tices understand, better than they did, what is expected 
of them. Little is being done, however, to fit them for 
the change in 1840. We cannot, perhaps, give a better 
idea of the religious and educational wants of the island, 
than is conveyed in the following remark of this gentle- 
man, on the state of his own district, which comprises a 
population of two thousand apprentices and their free 
children, and includes several large English estates, on 
which the negroes are considered to be more intelligent 
than elsewhere. " My official intercourse with the la- 
bouring classes, enables me to discover their ignorance 
of letters, and too general disregard of the Sabbath, as 
well as the other moral obligations of civil and religious 
society. I fear there are not eight of them to be found 
in my district who can read in any book. The pastoral 
visits of ministers of religion are exceedingly infrequent, 
and instruction of any kind rarely within their reach." 
We met at his dinner-table ten other gentlemen and 
three ladies, all of the coloured class ; three of the for- 
mer were members of Assembly. They are relatives, 
and are just come into joint possession of an estate. 
They have commenced paying wages for the day and a 
half of their apprentices' own time, at the rate of three 



DOMINICA. 85 

bitts a day (elevenpence sterling.) We have learned 
from several sources, that the proprietors and attorneys 
of the island generally compensate their apprentices 
for their own time, either by payments of fish, or by 
returning the time at their own convenience. They 
studiously avoid paying wages — a short-sighted policy, 
which originates in prejudice and interest, the attorneys 
being also merchants, and receiving a profit on the fish 
supplied to the estates. We were informed, that the 
refugees from Martinique, of whom there are from three 
to four hundred in the island, are, as a body, peaceable, 
well-disposed, and industrious. The gentlemen above 
mentioned have twelve of them on their estate, who 
work satisfactorily for wages. They are rarely em- 
ployed, or in any way encouraged by the other planters. 
In some instances, even where negroes who have bought 
their time have been willing to remain as free la.bourers, 
they have been discharged from the estates. One of us 
called in the afternoon on Joseph Fadelle, known in 
England for his fearless exposure of colonial wickedness 
in high places.* He obseiwed, that though there was 
less oppression than at the commencement of the ap- 
prenticeship, he did not consider the condition of the 
people even now better than during slavery. Had this 
visit been paid him twelve or eighteen months ago, four 
or five would probably have been publicly flogged within 
sight during the interview. There was a vessel to-day 
in the harbour, freighted with emigrants to Demerara. 
One of us went on board, and ascertained, by conversa- 
tion with the people, that they were going of their own 
free will. They were chiefly mechanics, free persons of 
colour, from the Swedish and Danish islands of St. 
Barts. and St. Thomas. Some of them appeared very 
intelligent. They gave as a reason for indenting them- 

* Vide Appendix, page 373. 
I 



86 DOMINICA. 

selves, that they could not set up in their respective 
trades in Demerara without serving at least one year. 
Not a single apprentice has been hitherto induced to 
leave Dominica. 

20th. — We left at seven this morning in a canoe with 
William Lynch, to visit one or two estates in his district, 
on the north-west side of the island. The ocean is 
the highway from Roseau to most of the estates. The 
island is, however, encompassed, and also intersected in 
various directions by roads, which are impassable except 
on mules or horses. The negroes are expert rowers, 
and their long narrow boats, formed out of a single 
tree, cut through the water at the rate of five or six 
miles an hour. We had an opportunity of observing the 
mode of fishing among them. Three or four canoes, 
loaded with stones, take a large net about ten feet deep, 
and from sixty to one hundred yards in length, to some 
distance from the shore, which they let down ; the lower 
edge being weighted with lead, and the upper supported 
by pieces of cork. The stones in the canoes are then 
thrown with great violence into the sea, in such a direc- 
tion as to frighten the fish towards the shore, when a 
canoe at each extremity drags the net rapidly to the 
beach, and the fish is secured. The near view, from the 
sea, of the hills and ravines is extremely grand. They 
are covered with luxuriant tropical verdure, and trees 
loaded with fruit, and flowering shrubs, to the water's 
edge, except where the cliff, sometimes for considerable 
distances, presents a perpendicular face of rock. Do- 
minica is truly a high-land country, a land of m.ist, and 
rainbows, and mountain-torrents. The beds of the 
valleys are the sites of the principal estates, and the 
light green of the cane-fields is in beautiful contrast 
with the deep, rich verdure of the hills, which enclose 
them on either side. We arrived in about two hours at 
our destination — a free village at the mouth of a con- 



DOMINICA. 87 

siderable stream. We proceeded to the cottage of a 
respectable old negro woman, who keeps a shop for the 
sale of bread and provisions, the only one, we believe, 
in the island, except in the towns. The stipendiary has 
taken a room in her house, which has been fitted up for 
his accommodation, when unavoidably compelled to be 
more than a day from home. His landlady has been ten 
years free. She is now upwards of eighty years of age, 
has never beeu married, but has always borne an irre- 
proachable character. She appears to be a person of 
very cheerful piety, and exercises, we are told, the hap- 
piest influence over her neighbours. She is a class- 
leader amongst the Wesleyans, who have a chapel in the 
village, where service is usually performed every Sab- 
bath, by one of the missionaries or a local preacher. 
She is a bright example of usefulness and true respecta- 
bility in a very humble sphere. Her house was in nice 
order and very clean, and the adjoining gardens neatly 
fenced. We met here a young man from Sierra Leone, 
who had been brought all the way from his native 
country by a letter from an uncle in Dominica. He is 
now anxious to return. He is an intelligent, well-dis- 
posed negro, and a tolerable scholar, and is employed 
by W. Lynch, to teach a few of the children in the vil- 
lage and from the neighbouring estates. 

Having sent a message to the manager of Hills- 
borough, the adjoining estate, he kindly sent his boat 
for us to cross the river, which, for half a mile from 
the sea, is 300 yards broad, and of considerable depth, 
beyond which it is obstructed by rapids. It abounds 
in fish. Its banks are covered with the bamboo, guava, 
&c. Coming from Antigua, the rank luxuriance of this 
more humid climate struck us with astonishment. The 
orange, shaddock, lime, guava, and other fruit trees, 
grow wild in great profusion ; the soil throws up natural 
rank grasses ; creepers and shrubs hang about the steep 
sides of the cliffs, while the summits and more gentle 



88 DOMINICA. 

declivities are covered with thick forest and brushwood. 
The cane grows too rank and luxuriant for the full 
secretion and maturation of its saccharine juices, so that 
it is less productive than in the dry, exhausted soils of 
Antigua and Barbadoes. The estate we visited is one 
of the finest in the island. It occupies a perfectly level 
plain of considerable extent, limited on one side by the 
line of bamboo, which marks the course of the river, 
and shut in on the other, in the form of a half circle, by 
a hill, apparently almost perpendicular, except on one 
sloping side, which is occupied by the negro gardens 
and huts. On the height above them is the manager's 
house, which is again overtopped by mountains, but 
which is still lofty enough to command a view of the 
Avorks and cane-fields, spread out like a map, with the 
sea-front in the distance. A large stone vault, at some 
distance from the house, is used as the burying place of 
the white residents ; and near the same spot, also, is a 
handsome tomb, erected over the remains of a former 
attorney of the estate, at each end of which is a mag- 
nificent palmetto or cabbage-tree, with trunks as straight 
and columnar as if chiselled out of marble. This is a 
much more beautiful palm than the cocoa-nut tree, 
though at first sight they would usually be confounded 
by an European. The cabbage is the upper part of the 
trunk, which has a green appearance, and is of a pulpy, 
vegetable consistence. From the summit of this, 
branches out a graceful crown of gigantic leaves. The 
cabbage is described as very palatable, but unfortunately 
the tree must be destroyed to obtain it. The manager 
kindly provided us with horses and mules to make a 
little excursion up the valley. Our path was just wide 
enough for the animals to pass, with the river below us 
on one side, and a wall of rock many hundred feet high 
on the other, sometimes so absolutely perpendicular as 
to be free from vegetation, but usually covered with 
shrubs and creepers. One beautiful spot in this valley 



DOMINICA. 89 

was marked by the tomb of an overseer of a neighbour- 
ing estate, who had died from fever produced by the 
fatigue of a three days' hunt of wild hogs in the woods. 

The day was so showery, that we were soon compelled 
to return; but as far as we could see, all seemed to 
possess the same features of grandeur, and the same wild 
character of unsophisticated nature. Little of Dominica, 
except the river levels and the fertile sides of the ravines, 
has been brought into cultivation. Not a hundredth 
part of its resources has yet been drawn upon ; for the 
traces of man's dominion over it are slight indeed. 
Almost all tropical productions may be cultivated here^ 
and many grow wild, as the cotton tree, the varieties of 
the citron tribe, some of the spices, the plantain, banana, 
and several farinaceous roots, the palma christi, medi- 
cinal aloe, and many others, which produce valuable 
articles for consumption or export ; and some of which, 
even in the West Indies, are frequently the objects of 
difficult and costly culture. The island imports great 
quantities of timber, and numbers of cattle and horses, 
though valuable trees grow on every estate, and there is 
pasturage sufficient, without cultivation, to support un- 
counted herds. If it be asked, why man does not put 
forth his hand and gather the good things which nature 
provides with such spontaneous bounty, the reply is, that 
there is no surplus labour to devote to such minor mat- 
ters ; the sugar and coffee cultivation absorb all the re- 
sources of the island. Nothing would be easier than to 
turn its natural wealth to most profitable account, if the 
two great desiderata of capital and labour were but sup- 
plied. Fourteen thousand labourers are lost in such a 
fertile wilderness. When the sin and stain of slavery is 
wholly removed, we may indulge the hope that the tide 
of emigration will set in to this, and other of these beau- 
tiful and almost uninhabited islands. 

I 3 



90 DOMINICA. 

Many parts of the island have never been explored^ 
except by the Maroons or runaway negroes, and the 
rangers, who were employed about twenty years ago, in 
the war of extermination against them. They were at 
that time about 1500 in number, but were entirely de- 
stroyed. Many were brought to Roseau, and butchered 
in cold blood; and there is a well there, which, though of 
sweet water, and in the centre of the market-place, re- 
mains unused to this day, from a belief that it is defiled 
with the blood of these unfortunate people. The governor 
who sanctioned these atrocities was recalled. There are 
many wild hogs in the woods, and a small species of boa 
constrictor ; the guana is not uncommon ; and there is a 
large edible frog, which is caught in great numbers, and 
esteemed a delicacy. There are also two species of par- 
roquets. The negroes are a hardy, muscular race, but 
far beneath those of Antigua in appearance and intelli- 
gence. They have a downcast, distrustful look. Such at 
least was our observation on Hillsborough estate, where 
they speak chiefly English, and are considered superior 
to most in the island. Complaints have almost ceased 
on this estate, in consequence of a change of system on 
the part of the manager and his attorney ; the latter hav- 
ing lately adopted liberal views. The number of negroes is 
103, including old people and children ; the females 
being nearly as two to one. Nine infants have been born 
since the apprenticeship, of whom six have died. The 
manager attributes this great mortality to the negligence 
and ignorance of mothers, who think that the estate will 
have a claim upon their children, if they take them to 
the hospital when sick, or if they allow the older ones to 
pick grass, tend goats, and do other work suitable to 
their years. The same want of confidence prevents the 
people from undertaking task-work, and from working 
willingly for remuneration in their own time. In the 



DOMINICA, 91 

former case, we were told by one who had good oppor- 
tunity of knowing their dispositions, that they thought 
that task-work was offered them as a bait to see how 
much they could do in a given time, in order to increase 
their daily quota. While we were on this estate, a woman 
with an infant a few weeks old in her arms, came to 
complain to the stipendiary that the father of her child 
would not contribute to its support. He, it appeared, 
denied the paternity of it, being regularly married to 
another woman, by whom he has a family. The magis- 
trate spoke to her on her sinful habits, but she seemed 
dead to all sense of shame, and went away in a sullen 
temper. She was very slightly dressed, and her back 
was marked with the weals of former flagellations when 
a slave. The most deplorable consequences have re- 
sulted from the promiscuous intercourse and profligacy 
which slavery has created. The fertility of the people 
has been impaired, and their natural affection for their 
offspring weakened. The whites have incurred a fearful 
responsibihty by the example they have set the other 
classes. Deplorable, however, as is the present state of 
things, all agree that in this respect it is improving. 
Marriages are increasing among the negroes, and the 
character of the married people is manifestly better than 
that of the others. We asked to see the hospital, but, 
after waiting some time, were told that the woman who 
had the key was on her provision ground at a distance. 
As we had learned in Antigua that sham-sickness, or 
what was reputed such, was a marked feature of slavery, 
we were surprised to learn that this estate was free from 
it, till the circumstance was explained by the fact, that 
the negroes thought the hospital was haunted by a jum- 
boe, who made noises at night, a superstition which the 
manager took no pains to remove. We were shown the 
cachot, or lock-up, a building suitable for solitary confine- 
ment. The manager told us that he knew one estate 



92 DOMINICA. 

where the cachot was so constructed, that a prisoner 
could neither stand erect nor lie down. The negroes in 
this island are addicted to rum, an appetite created and 
fostered by their being rewarded with drams of spirits for 
extra labour, and as an encouragement in damp weather. 
They receive no allowances at all, except of clothing, 
and presents of pork, flour, and fish at Christmas. They 
support themselves by cultivating their grounds on the 
steep sides of the mountains, and by catching sea and 
river fish. We expressed to the manager our conviction, 
that it would be good policy to begin paying money 
wages instead of salt fish ; thereby encouraging a desire 
for those comforts which money only can procure. He 
agreed with us, and said that he had some time before 
attempted to act upon such views, but that "he had 
brought the neighbouring planters down upon him." At 
present all the money which the negroes acquire, is 
earned by taking the surplus produce of their grounds to 
Roseau, and the other markets. Sometimes they offer 
the salt fish, which is so injudiciously forced upon them, 
for sale or barter at the shops. Of their privilege of 
attending market they are so jealous, that they will 
scarcely sell their poultry or other produce on their own 
estate or on the road, even at a higher price. 

We had inquired of one of the negroes who had rowed 
us down the river, what difference he found between 
slavery and apprenticeship. He said that he had not 
yet discovered any. He had once received thirty-nine 
by order of a former magistrate, while he never was 
flogged when a slave. On that occasion, he acknow- 
ledged he had been guilty of tipsy and riotous conduct. 
In reply to the same inquiry, the manager observed, 
that he did not think the apprentices w^ere better off 
than during slavery,* and that total Emancipation would 

* See Appendix, page 374. 



DOMINICA. 93 

be advantageous for all parties. He did not fear being 
able to carry on the cultivation under a system of free- 
dom. Very few apprentices, on this or the other planta- 
tions, have been registered as non-predials, of those who 
are immediately employed as domestics. The manager 
said they preferred to be predials, with the privilege of 
their large grounds, and related an instance to us, where 
a non-predial had been made a predial at his own re- 
quest ; giving as a reason, that when his mistress was not 
at home, " he did not get fed." It appears to us that the 
domestics and mechanics of Dominica, as of some other 
colonies, have been extensively defrauded in the classifi- 
cation, by being registered as predials. The temptation 
to cane stealing is not so great here as in Antigua, as the 
negroes can grow canes in their own grounds. In one 
instance, on this estate, a considerable quantity were 
raised by some apprentices, which the attorney directed 
to be converted into sugar for them, receiving one-third 
of the produce for the use of the mill. This meteyer sys- 
tem will probably extend in some of the colonies. We 
returned to Roseau in the afternoon in our canoe. The 
day was so continually showery, that we were prevented 
visiting an adjoining estate. The climate of Dominica 
is considered unhealthy, but will doubtless become more 
salubrious and less humid, as it is more extensively 
cleared and cultivated. We have found it quite bracing, 
and very different to the dry, relaxing air of Antigua, 
which is usually numbered among the healthiest islands. 
It is probable that each island might be beneficially re- 
sorted to by invalids from the other. One of the great 
recommendations of Dominica, are its delicious rivers, 
which supply a beverage, the luxury of which can only 
be appreciated in a tropical climate, and by those who 
have been recently restricted to the cistern rain water of 
Antigua. The last hurricane in Dominica did much 
mischief to the estates' buildings and negro houses, A 



94 DOMINICA. 

loan was obtained from Government to rebuild them, 
which some of the planters openly declare their intention 
of never repaying. It is secured upon the estates. We 
heard of one estate, where the negro houses and other 
buildings had been destroyed, on which the loan, instead 
of being applied to its specific object, was laid out in the 
general improvement of the property ; and, after con- 
siderable delay, the negroes were compelled to rebuild 
their dwellings themselves, in their own time. The ma- 
nager, in this case, was fined in a trifling sum by the 
stipendiary, but the poor negroes received no compensa- 
tion. 

21st. — The coffee estates in this island are nearly de- 
stroyed by the blight and hurricane. They are mostly 
small properties, in the hands of the old French resi- 
dents. Such is their depreciation that the negroes on 
many of them might be purchased for £10 sterling each ; 
but happily they cannot be sold without their own con- 
sent, and will not emigrate, or suffer themselves to be 
transferred to sugar estates. The coffee-trees are fast 
being displaced by canes. On some of these properties 
the cane-juice is manufactured into syrup in a rude way, 
by the simplest machinery, and sold in Roseau by the 
bottle. It is often made and sold on the same day. 

We left Roseau this afternoon in a canoe, for the 
Souffriere, distant about eight miles, near the south-west 
extremity of the island, leaving directions for our 
schooner to follow us in the evening. J. Fadelle and 
Lewis Bellot kindly accompanied us. The coast is of a 
somewhat different character from what we surveyed 
yesterday. The mountains are higher and bolder, but 
the climate is less moist, and the vegetation less luxu- 
riant. The SoufFriere Bay is formed by two projecting 
reefs. The valley is extremely beautiful, and occupied 
by a very fine estate, the manager of which kindly lent 
us horses and mules to proceed to the Souffriere, which 



DOMINICA. 95 

is about two miles from the sea, on the first breast of a 
mountain. It appears, at a distance, hke a large white or 
yellow field on the side of a hill. The whole neighbour- 
hood is filled with sulphureous vapours. A boiling spring 
issues from the hill, and forms a considerable stream. 
After crossing it, the fragments of wood and roots of 
trees appear converted into charcoal ; the ground is per- 
ceptibly warm, and covered with fragments of almost 
pure sulphur. We ascended with some difficulty, striding 
over the hot rivulet, wading through the bushes, and in 
fear of dipping our feet into fissures filled with boiling- 
mud, to the principal sulphur field, where the side of the 
hill seemed to consist almost entirely of sulphur. Imme- 
diately above it, three springs of boiling water gush out 
of the rock, from circular orifices, one or two inches in 
diameter. They fall into a natural cauldron below, 
which was nearly hidden by the steam of the falling 
water. The bed of the rivulet, which they form, for the 
first one or two hundred yards, is stained so black as to 
give it the appearance of a river of ink. There is no 
crater, and no other evidence of volcanic action, except 
the boihng springs and this formation of sulphur ; but we 
were told that earthquakes are often sensibly felt, and 
are sometimes even accompanied by a rumbling noise 
at certain seasons of the year. A description of the 
scenery in the neighbourhood of the SoufFriere, would 
seem the language of hyperbole. The bed of the valley 
is in a high state of cultivation. We proceeded from 
hence across the island, which is here not more than 
three or four miles in breadth, to visit several proper- 
ties. The first we called at was that of a French pro- 
prietor, an agreeable middle aged man of liberal prin- 
ciples, and modest, retiring character. We saw on his 
estate sad evidences of the ruinous efifects of the blight. 
Coffee is generally grown on the precipitous sides of the 
hills, where the rain speedily drains off*. A plantation 



96 DOMINICA. 

of it in these smaller islands may be distinguished at a 
great distance, as it is cultivated in small diamond 
shaped fields, fenced in by a stronger and taller shrub, 
to shield it from the sea breeze. We next visited an 
estate, formerly belonging to a French proprietor, now- 
dead, and still under the management of his nephew. 
He instructed his negroes himself, with a view to eman- 
cipate them, but died before his property was sufficiently 
unincumbered to enable him to carry his intentions into 
effect. We saw numbers of the people, who bore witness, 
by their appearance and manners, to the advantages they 
had enjoyed. A group of happy looking children ran 
away at our approach, but curiosity, overcoming fear, 
soon brought them back again. We prevailed upon a 
little boy and girl to read to us, in a book of moral 
lessons in French, which they had w'ith them. The boy 
read fluently, the girl was too timid. We gave each of 
them a small silver piece, when it suddenly appeared 
that many others could read. The proprietor of this 
estate used to present mothers with the freedom of their 
first child, born in lawful wedlock, a measure attended 
with the happiest results. Several of the people have 
bought their apprentices since 1834. They are allowed 
to occupy their former houses and grounds, and to cul- 
tivate coffee, paying half the produce of the latter to the 
estate. The manager did not seem to be satisfied with 
this arrangement, but he thought they would not consent 
to work regularly for wages, though he acknowledged he 
had never put them to the test. We proceeded from 
hence to an estate belonging to the grandfather of one 
of our companions. It is situated immediately above 
the sea, and there is a parapet wall to prevent children 
and animals from falling down a precipice of several 
hundred feet into the water. This, like the two prece- 
ding, was a coffee plantation, in a state of transition into 
a sugar estate. The proprietor is eighty-five years old, 



DOMINICA. 97 

and of most venerable appearance ; his long, white hair 
flowing down upon his shoulders. He is believed to 
be the oldest white person in the island. He is very 
infirm, but retains his mental powers, and much of his 
French vivacity. His wife is slightly -coloured, and still 
older than himself. He seemed delighted to see and 
to converse with us. His reminiscences extended over 
nearly three quarters of a century. Forty years ago he 
remembered expressing to an Irish Catholic priest his 
conviction that the negroes would some time or other 
be emancipated. He mentioned also some great lady 
having told him that the nineteenth century would be 
distinguished by great earthquakes and commotions, 
which he considered to be a metaphor, prophetic of Abo- 
lition. He was very much amused by one of us telling 
him, when asked to take wine, that he had drank only 
water for the last eight years. He said " the frogs 
drink water, you are a frog," &c. Though, however, 
the idea of total abstinence from distilled and fermented 
drinks appeared both to amuse and astonish him, yet 
he acknowledged he owed his advanced age to his tem- 
perance. He drank a glass of wine himself, " to the 
success of our good cause." This benevolent old gentle- 
man seemed to live in patriarchial style, in the midst of 
his people. Some of the young children almost lived 
in his house ; and served to amuse him with their play ; 
one who was present received his supper from the table. 
The negroes on this property, we were told, have 
doubled their numbers within the last twenty years. 
Nothing can be a greater contrast than the condition, 
appearance, and manners, of the people on some of 
these properties of the old French residents, and of 
those on even the well managed Enghsh estates. On 
the former there has generally been an increase, and on 
the latter a striking decrease of numbers.* The popu- 

* See Appendix, page 369. 
K 



98 DOMINICA. 

lation of the island has been nearly stationary. The 
great discrepancy of the sexes, in favour of the females, 
will operate unfavourably for a series of years. After 
supper we took leave of this venerable couple, and by 
the light of a full moon returned to the Souffriere Bay, 
where we found our vessel awaiting us, and embarked 
at ten p. m. The mountain roads of Dominica appear 
dangerous, but the horses and mules of the country are 
very sure-footed. The island was named by Columbus, 
from its being discovered on a Sunday. When asked 
by the King of Spain for a description of it, he is said to 
have crushed a sheet of paper in his hand and presented 
it as a representation of the extreme irregularity of its 
surface. It would be difficult, perhaps, to describe it 
better. Notwithstanding the apparent fertility of the 
island, the cultivation of the cane is described as very 
laborious. The yearly amount of sugar produced does 
not exceed three thousand hogsheads. Coifee was for- 
merly its staple, but nearly all the properties on which 
it was cultivated have been ruined by the prevalence of 
" the white fly," during the last six years, by which 
many of the smaller proprietors have been reduced to 
poverty. 



CHAPTER VII. 



MARTINIQUE. 

\2th Month, 22nd, {December) 1836. 
Some of our friends in Dominica put into our hands 
copies of several petitions to the French Chambers, the 
last of which is dated only a month ago,* from the 
coloured inhabitants of Martinique, (many of whom are 
themselves slaveholders,) for the immediate Abolition of 
Slavery. The views of the petitioners are just and ad- 
mirably expressed, and, coming from persons living in 
immediate contact with slavery, possess a peculiar 
value. As we must pass by Martinique, on our way 
to St. Lucia, we concluded to spend a day or two in 
St. Pierre and Fort Royal, in the hope of obtaining ad- 
ditional information respecting this anti-slavery move- 
ment. We reached St. Pierre about ten o'clock a. m. 
A coloured gentleman, to whom we had an introduc- 
tion, came to us immediately on learning our arrival, 
and stayed with us during the few hours we remained. 
He was a decided abolitionist, but was not one of those 
principally concerned in the petitions, though his signa- 
ture was attached to them. Our short stay, and the dis- 
advantage we were under in not being able to converse 
fluently in French, prevented our seeking the acquaint- 
ance of the parties principally concerned in the affair. 
Our informant stated that there was a general belief in 
the Colony, that the Government would abolish slavery 
within the next two years. There was also an impres- 
sion among the slaves that they would be emancipated. 

* See Appendix, page 377. 



100 MARTINIQUE. 

The hours of labour on the estates are from five a. m. 
to six p. M,, with intervals of one hour for breakfast, and 
two for dinner. They receive no allowances, but have 
the Saturday for cultivating their own grounds, and 
Sunday for market day. He mentioned an instance of 
a slave, who had a free wife and children, and who 
possessed slaves and other property himself; but who 
could never induce his master to sell him his own free- 
dom. The trade of the island is now considerably de- 
pressed, in consequence of the uncertain aspect of the 
future. The value of slaves has been much affected by 
the fear that they will speedily be emancipated without 
compensation. Fine, strong young men, recently worth 
300 to 400 dollars will now only realise from 60 to 100, 
when sold at public vente. The number of soldiers in 
the Colony has been increased, and they are stationed 
in small bodies all over the island, to prevent the escape 
of the slaves to Dominica and St, Lucia. About 100 
planters are wealthy, but the majority of estates are 
encumbered to a greater amount than they are worth. 
There has been no clandestine importation of slaves 
into Martinique since the accession of Louis Philippe. 
We Vv^ere informed it w^as generally reported and be- 
lieved that the British West Indies were ruined; that 
England was obliged to import sugar from France, and 
that some of the Antigua negroes, not liking the new 
regime, had made their escape to Guadaloupe ! ! Our 
companion introduced us to his father, who is a planter, 
and of different sentiments to himself. He confirmed 
v/hat his son had said respecting the depressed condition 
of the Colony, and the low price to which slaves had 
fallen, and also repeated some of the current rumours 
about the British islands. He observed, that the slaves 
in our colonies were " perfectly happy" before Emanci- 
pation, because they had legal protection. In Marti- 
nique, however, a master could do any thing with his 



MARTINIQUE. 101 

slave, short of putting him to death ; and even in that 
case, if prosecuted, he would be sure to escape convic- 
tion. Since the change in the British colonies, the dis- 
cipline on the estates had much relaxed ; the slaves 
worked less, and were less harshly treated. A strong 
proof, he thought, that the French Government contem- 
plated the early and entire Abolition of Slavery, was, 
that it passed no ameliorating laws. No doubts were 
entertained that the slaves would continue on the 
estates and work if made free, but he feared that the 
cultivation could not be carried on profitably. During 
our stay at this gentleman's house, we drank some eau 
Sucre, made of an inferior refined sugar; which on 
inquiring we found was French beetroot sugar. 

We went afterwards to the Botanic Garden of St. 
Pierre, a scene of extraordinary luxuriance and beauty. 
It is situated in the basin, and on the sides of a circle of 
mountains, and is a complete labyrinth of walks, with 
fish-ponds, cascades, &c. It is devoted chiefly to tropical 
trees and shrubs of the Eastern hemisphere, with which 
it is supplied in great profusion and variety. 

St. Pierre has from twenty-five to thirty thousand in- 
habitants. It is a place of great trade, and the principal 
port in the island, though the harbour is much exposed. 
We left St. Pierre about four p. m., in a canoe to Fort 
Royal, leaving directions for our schooner to follow us. 
It was rowed by five men, one steering with a paddle. 
They were all naked, except pantaloons, and had rather 
a savage appearance. One or two of them spoke a little 
English, but we could not understand a word of their 
French patois. The chest, shoulders, and trunk of the 
negro are usually a model of anatomical symmetry, and 
remind us of the antique bronzes. His head and Ihnbs 
do not harmonise with European ideas of beauty. Two 
of our rowers were mulattoes; the difference of their form 
was strongly marked. Our canoe was lined at the bot- 

K 3 



10*2 MARTINIQUE. 

torn and on the sides with a mat of soft reeds, on which 
we lay, with a roof over our heads supported on wooden 
pillars. We were obliged to follow the inlets and outlets 
of the shore, which made our voyage tedious, and we did 
not arrive till two hours after sunset. We met two ves- 
sels of considerable burthen, employed as drogers for the 
shipment of produce, immediately from the estates on 
the coast. They were each rowed by ten or twelve 
slaves, who were some of them quite naked, and all 
nearly so. They stood on benches, placed at intervals 
across the vessel, and took a stroke with their long oars 
till they almost reached, in a reclining position, the 
planks or benches behind them. They had then to step 
with one foot on the deck below, before they could re- 
cover their position on the benches to renew the effort. 
Nothing could be more wretched in appearance than 
the slaves engaged in this painful and laborious employ- 
ment. 

We reached Fort Royal about nine p. m., and with 
one of our men as guide, proceeded in search of the 
Cafe to which we had been recommended. We could 
not find it, and after inquiring at several hotels which 
were full, we were taken at length to one of rather an 
inferior description, which was undergoing a complete 
whitewashing. We found, however, the accommoda- 
tions tolerable, after divesting our minds of all English 
ideas of comfort. We met here a gentleman who spoke 
English well, and who gave us information precisely 
corresponding with what we had heard in St. Pierre, of 
the depreciation in the value of slaves, and of the large 
military force maintained to preserve the peace of the 
Colony, and to prevent their escape to the British islands. 
Our landlady mentioned, that a gentlemen of her ac- 
quaintance had lately bought twelve slaves, at a very 
low price, on the speculation that the Government 
would abolish slavery and grant compensation. The 



MARTINIQUE. 103 

same individual advised her not to sell one of her women 
that she wished to part with, for the same reason. Her 
own opinion, however, was, that no compensation would 
be given. 

23rd. — Though the seat of Government, and possess- 
ing the advantages of a spacious and secure harbour, and 
a more central situation. Fort Royal has not half the 
commerce or population of St. Pierre, and it is daily 
declining. It is built with great regularity, and is 
capable of being rendered a beautiful town. On the 
south are two sides of a large square, enclosing a lawn 
called the Savanna, with promenades, shaded by tama- 
rind trees. Near this square is the Hotel dii Gouveme- 
ment. The present Governor is Le Baron de Mackau, 
formerly Admiral on this station, and the officer who 
executed, on the part of France, the treaty recognising 
the independence of the Haytian Republic. About a 
year ago he visited Antigua, for the purpose of ascer- 
taining the result of Emancipation, and the impressions 
he received there were thought to be favourable to 
Abolition. We paid our respects to him about noon 
to-day, and were received with much kindness. The 
Baron is past middle-age, stout, and of very benevolent 
aspect; he is familiar with the colloquial use of the 
English language. We told him, that having been in- 
formed of the interest he had expressed in Antigua, we 
thought he might be pleased to receive some recent in- 
formation from thence. We then stated, as briefly as 
we could, the result of our inquiries. He listened to us 
attentively, and made several observations which showed 
that he was closely watching the progress of affairs in the 
British colonies. He quoted Sir Lionel Smith's recent 
speech to the Assembly of Jamaica, from which he con- 
cluded, that things must be progressing unfavourably in 
that island. The subject was one, he said, in which he 
felt a deep interest, and it was closely occupying the 



104 MARTINIQUE. 

attention of the Government. It was intended to en- 
lighten the slaves by education, and by increasing the 
number of priests. On our inquiring whether the 
planters were favourable to education, he said, some 
of them were not, but the Government was " positive." 
The negroes themselves were much addicted to religious 
ceremonies, but showed no great desire to learn to read 
and write. He observed, that the negroes of Antigua 
were much more enlightened than in their islands. 
During his visit there, he was delighted to witness their 
attendance at church, and the attention with which they 
listened "to the speech of the Doctor." Antigua, he 
observed, had been in a state of preparation for twenty 
years. We remarked, that it would have made more 
progress in five years of freedom than in twenty of 
slavery; to which he replied, with a smile, "I see you 
would lose no time;" adding, after a pause, "my opinion 
is the same as yours." We made some remarks on the 
prospects of the British colonies, and on the appren- 
ticeship, but fearing we might be imperfectly understood, 
we offered to forward to him a short memoir on the 
subject, from Barbadoes, which he said he should be 
happy to receive. We stayed about three-quarters of an 
hour, and left, much pleased with our reception. 

We went on board about two p. m., and set sail for 
St. Lucia. The black and coloured people whom we 
have seen in St. Pierre and Fort Royal, are very 
superior in outward polish of manners to those of the 
English islands. The field negroes, we were told by 
one party, were more, and by another, that they were 
less enhghtened than in the Enghsh islands. They are 
less educated, perhaps, but their faculties are sharpened 
by coming in contact on the market days with so large 
a body of white and free coloured persons as is to be 
found in the French towns. The situation of the 
French colonies appears to be approaching a crisis, 



MARTINIQUE. 105 

and we believe it depends upon the parent Govern- 
ment, whether it shall issue in peace, prosperity, and 
safety, or in general ruin and bankruptcy, if not in 
bloodshed. The present time is favourable for a great 
change, because the minds of all classes are in a state 
of preparation for it, whilst the uncertainty of the fu- 
ture is exercising a ruinous and depressing influence on 
trade and property. It is more than probable that the 
Colonies owe their present tranquillity to the persuasion 
on the minds of the negroes that they will shortly be 
made free ; and there appears to be no obstacle what- 
ever to their emancipation, except the fears of the 
planters that free labour will be too expensive. The 
question is become a purely economical one. In Mar- 
tinique great annoyance and irritation exist respecting 
the escape of slaves to the British islands, which has 
been checked for a time by a large military force, 
picquetted in parties of five or six men all over the 
island; but take away the hope of freedom from the 
slaves, and they will make their escape in spite of every 
precaution ; and whether they drown in the attempt, or 
reach the opposite shore, the loss is the same to their 
masters and the Colony. The distance from land to 
land, to Dominica on the one side, and St. Lucia on 
the other, is only twenty miles, and several of the 
parties who have recently escaped have ventured across 
on mere rafts. Of 3000 slaves who have thus dis- 
appeared from Martinique, only 1200 are accounted 
for as having reached the British islands, so that it 
would appear, that nearly two-thirds perish in the des- 
perate attempt. When it is considered that these slaves 
are chiefly men, and of the most robust of the people, 
and that the depopulation of the Colony, in a still more 
rapid ratio, is prevented only by bringing out from 
Europe, and maintaining, a body of 2000 soldiers, the 
oppressive burdens entailed upon this small Colony by 
slavery may be faintly appreciated. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



ST. LUCIA. 

I2tk Month, 2ith, (December) 1836. 

On coming on deck this morning, we found ourselves 
lying securely at anchor in the Bay of Castries, having 
had during the night a favourable wind. This is one of 
the finest harbours in the Leeward islands, being spa- 
cious and secure, free from shoals, and possessing good 
anchorage, though somewhat difficult of access, as it is 
almost land-locked. We called soon after our arrival on 
the Chief Justice, the Honourable John Reddie, whose 
acquaintance we had had the pleasure of making in 
England. We also addressed a note to the Governor, 
Sir Dudley Hill, to inquire when it would be conve- 
nient to him to see us ; and in the interim attended the 
Court where the Chief Justice was disposing of cases of 
misdemeanour, &c. Two prisoners were successively 
indicted for petty thefts, both of whom pleaded guilty. 
The proceedings were entirely in French. The Gover- 
nor, whose cabinet was adjoining, sent his secretary to 
say he was ready to receive us. He gave us a courteous 
welcome to St. Lucia, and expressed a desire to facili- 
tate our inquiries. He spoke favourably of the state of 
the Colony, and of the condition of the negroes. He had 
himself, in his recent annual circuit of the island, asked 
them, in the presence of their masters, whether they had 
any complaints; but with one or two exceptions, the 
answer had always been in the negative. Great im- 
provements had been effected in the Colony since his 



I 



ST. LUCIA. 107 

arrival. Its large debt was nearly liquidated, the port 
had been much improved by the construction of a wharf, 
and a road had been made across the island. Estates, 
he observed, had risen in value since Emancipation. 
The Martinique refugees were, on the whole, a peace- 
able, industrious set of labourers. The apprentices who 
bought out their time usually continued to work for 
wages on the estates. He thought the appraisements 
were in some instances too high. He had endeavoured 
to dissuade some of them from purchasing their freedom, 
by telling them, that if they would wait till 1840, they 
would have their money to commence the world with ; 
but they argued in reply, that wages were now very 
high, and would fall when all became free. We also 
called upon the Rector, who is the only Protestant 
minister in the island. There are but 400 Pro- 
testant inhabitants, all of whom are English but two. 
The Rector has three schools under his care, of which 
the one in town is attended by about forty children. 
They learn rapidly, though the lessons are in English ; 
but as soon as they can read, their parents think they 
know enough, and remove them. The want of qualified 
teachers is a great obstacle to more extended education. 
We were introduced, in the course of the day, to William 
Muter, a proprietor of several estates, and an extensive 
merchant and ship-owner; and also to Dr. Robinson, 
both of whom are members of Council, and actively 
concerned in promoting the welfare of the Colony. 
The former invited us to visit his estates. He has no 
fears of his negroes leaving him after 1840. He told 
us, that he found it difficult to induce them to work for 
him on the Saturday, as they are entirely dependent for 
support on their labour in their provision grounds. 
One woman, on his offering her wages for her Saturday, 
asked him if he did not go to church on the Sunday? 
observing, that if she worked on the estate on Saturday, 



108 ST. LUCIA. 

she must cultivate her ground on the Sunday, — reason- 
ing which admitted no reply. Dr. Robinson observed, 
that he did not think the condition of the negroes in 
any respect improved under the new system, except 
that they work one hour per day less; and that unless 
different measures are adopted by the Government, 
they will be in no better state of preparation for freedom 
in 1840 than they were in 1834. The mortality among 
the free children has been very great, both from the 
want of attention to them on the part of the proprietors, 
and from the ignorance of mothers, who were, however, 
by no means deficient in affection for their children. 
The number of females considerably preponderates in 
this as in the other islands which we have visited. Dr. 
Robinson mentions the only probable explanation we 
have yet heard of this anomaly. He believes that an 
inspection of the registry of slaves, from 1815 to 1834, 
would show that half the males died before attaining 
the age of twenty, while not a third of the females died 
within the same period, — a disparity which he accounts 
for by supposing that the severe labour to which both 
sexes are subjected at the same age is less destructive 
to the female constitution, in consequence of its being 
more early matured. The population of the island has, 
however, increased within the last few years. 

25th. — Christmas-day. — A military band paraded the 
town early this morning, and serenaded the public func- 
tionaries in honour of the day. Among other tunes, 
they played one composed by the negroes, and called 
" President Jeremie," — a name much revered by the 
blacks. They found in Jeremie, for the first time, a pro- 
tector and a dispenser of impartial justice ; and we are 
assured that this 'single circumstance has contributed to 
elevate their national character. The benefits of his 
residence were not, however, limited to the negroes : as 
first President of the Royal Court, he possessed, under 



ST. LUCIA. 109 

the old French constitution, a civil as well as judicial 
power, which he exercised in a variety of ways, for the 
general good. Many important public w^orks, and among 
others the church — the sole Protestant place of vrorship — 
were begun and perfected through his exertions and in- 
fluence. His efforts were often frustrated by the con- 
tinual local opposition which he encountered, and he 
was left almost unsupported by the home Government ; 
but his chief opponents are now dead, and their sons and 
those of them who remain, do not hesitate to say, that 
he was the greatest man who ever came to St. Lucia. 
Through his exertions the obstacles raised by the pro- 
prietors to good government have disappeared, and 
many of them are now willing to aid in the work of edu- 
cation, while those who are opposed to improvement are 
powerless. 

26th. — We left Castries early this morning, on a visit 
to two of the estates of W. Muter. The distance by land 
is about eight miles, and the road dangerous, fatiguing, 
and almost impassable, but through scenery of inde- 
scribable beauty. Our path was over a succession of 
lofty ridges, and through the estates which occupied the 
intervening valleys. From the heights, we had extensive 
prospects of mountains clothed with primitive forest, 
above and around us ; and of ravines and valleys beneath 
us, in the same wild and uncultivated state, occasionally 
diversified by extensive gardens of the plantain and ba- 
nana, fields of canes, negro villages, and sugar-works. 
St. Lucia is, to a greater extent even than Dominica, an 
unoccupied wilderness. The character of the two islands 
is vei-y similar ; both possess a feature of singular beauty, 
in their large and perfectly level savannas, enclosed by 
precipitous hills, with a stream running through them to 
the sea. The two estates we came to visit occupy one of 
these valleys; they are very fine properties, and in a 
high state of cultivation. There were on them both 



110 ST. LUCIA. 

about 450 negroes in 1834, of whom eleven have since 
purchased their freedom. Three of these remain working 
for wages, of whom one is a field labourer, receiving four- 
teen pence sterling per day, besides house and ground 
rent free. We noticed a fine young ox dead in the pen, 
which was supposed to have killed itself by sticking its 
horns in the soft earth. The occurrence did not excite 
much attention. The loss of stock from the unskilful- 
ness of the apprentices is very great, and ought to be 
noted among the disadvantages of uncompensated labour. 
The crop has commenced on these estates, and is ex- 
pected to yield about 400 hogsheads of sugar. We went 
over the two boiling-houses, at each of which there is a 
steam engine. In the colonies which we have visited, 
the night-work in the boiling-house has been of late 
years much curtailed, or altogether dispensed with, and 
so far as we can learn, without any disadvantage. We 
also went into one of the cane-pieces, where a gang of 
about fifty negroes, chiefly women, were employed in 
cutting the canes. We spoke to the proprietor, who 
accompanied us, of the desirableness of married women 
ceasing to be employed regularly in the field, and merely 
rendering assistance in the busy season. He expressed 
his full concurrence in our views. Here, as in Dominica, 
the cane is of more luxuriant growth than in Antigua or 
Barbadoes. It is reaped by two strokes of a sort of cut- 
lass; the one taking it off about the middle, and the 
other close to the ground. The negro then cuts off* the 
leaves and the plant, which consist of the one or two 
incipient joints at the top of the cane. The cane, the 
plant, and the leaves, are thrown into separate heaps, to 
be carried away on the backs of mules. In the cultiva- 
tion of the cane, the season for planting and reaping is 
the same, and lasts from one-third to half of the year. 
The cane is not indigenous, and though of such vigorous 
growth, it does not go to seed in the West Indies. It is 



ST. LUCIA. Ill 

propagated by the plants before-mentioned, which of 
course can only be obtained during crop. On this estate 
the piece which was being planted was not holed in the 
usual manner, but hoed into ridges, in which the plants 
were inserted about twelve inches asunder, in rows run- 
ning east and west, that they might sustain the least 
injury from the wind. The rows are five feet apart, so 
as to admit of the growing plants being v/eeded with the 
plough or horse-hoe. This we believe is the mode in 
use in Mexico. It has been partially tried on this estate, 
and with success. The saving of human labour, as com- 
pared with the customary plan, is obviously very great. 
The proprietor intends, on his next visit to England, to 
endeavour to bring out some Scotch peasantry, young 
married persons, to enable him to introduce the plough 
in an efficient manner. Even on these well-managed 
properties many changes might be advantageously made. 
Among others, the fields might be intersected by tram- 
roads, on which all the canes could be conveyed to the 
principal boiling-house, which is large enough to manu- 
facture sugar for both estates. The persons employed 
to feed the mill and carry away the magass, or pressed 
cane-trash, were chiefly women and young persons. 
There were six men and one v/oman employed as cri- 
minals, in the severe labour of carrying the bundles of 
canes from the place where they had been deposited by 
the mules, up to the mill. These had been condemned 
to six months' imprisonment and hard labour, for at- 
tempting to escape to Martinique, at the instigation of a 
refugee, who had persuaded them that the French, by 
way of reprisal, had determined to set all British appren- 
tices free who came over to them. At the request of the 
proprietor, they were allowed to remain on the estate, 
working under the superintendence of the rural police, 
and being locked up at night. We visited the hospitals 
on both estates, which are roomy and well-ventilated 



112 " ST. LUCIA. 

buildings. There were eight or ten patients in each, 
chiefly with sore legs. In this moist climate a slight 
scratch is liable to become an obstinate ulcer, unless it 
receives medical attention. It is singular, that elephanti- 
asis and black scurvy are rare here, and in Dominica. 
They are diseases of the dry islands. The loss of infants, 
also, by convulsions and locked jaw, so common in An- 
tigua, is almost unknown. Dr. Robinson informs us, 
that the greatest number of deaths occur between the 
ages of eighteen months and live or six years ; which he 
attributes to the unripe guavas and other indigestible 
fruits, which they gather and eat when their parents are 
at the field. He believes that infant schools would have 
an important, though indirect advantage in this respect.* 
On these two estates the free children have had the 
same attention as before, and consequently there has 
been no diminution of numbers, by excess of deaths over 
births. The proprietor took us to see his estate schooL 
the only one in the island. The children are taught by 
a respectable coloured man, who was formerly a carpen- 
ter on the plantation. There were about thirty pre- 
sent, from four to twelve years of age, who had been 
learning about eight months. Some of them read ea^y 
lessons of one and two syllables, and spell very correctly. 
Their pronunciation is extremely good, but we found 
they were ignorant of the meanings of many of the words. 
As soon as a few become familiar with English, they will 

* A striking confirmation of this observation of Dr. Robinson is con- 
tained ia the following memorandum, dated 1832, furnished tis among 
other valuable remarks by H. M. Scott, the benevolent proprietor of 
Hopeton and Lennox estates, Jamaica. '* Previous to the establishment 
of a school at Hopeton in 1824, the greatest degree of mortality pre- 
vailed among the children of tender years, that is to say, from the time 
of weaning to eight years ; it is remarkable, that from the commencement 
of the school, (a period of nine years,) only seven children, from two to 
fifteen years, have died ; three of whom fell victims to the malignant 
dysentery of 1831. 



ST. LUCIA. 113 

be of great use in bringing the rest forward. We were 
taken to see a little girl in one of the cottages who v/as 
an albino. Her skin was originally quite white, but is 
now sun-burnt to a light brown shade; her head was 
covered wdth white wool. The parents, who were both 
black, have had two other children distinguished by the 
same peculiarity. 

On our return we noticed, on the hill sides, the cot- 
tages and gardens of some of the Martinique refugees. 
One of them has a little plantation of canes, which he 
manufactures into sugar, in a small, rudely constructed 
mill, and sells in Castries. This display of industry 
and enterprise excited the jealousy of a neighbouring 
planter, who prosecuted the men for stealing two trees 
from his estate, to make a boat. The i*efugee proved 
that he felled them on the bit of ground which had been 
given him to clear and cultivate for himself. There are 
six hundred refugees in this island, and it is allowed that 
they contribute to the prosperity of the Colony. They 
have introduced at Castries the manufacture of tiles, 
and the porous water jars so extensively used in the 
West Indies. One gentleman, whom we visited, has 
one of them in his service as a groom, and spoke highly 
of his industry and good behaviour. The young man 
himself told us he did not love his own country, " it was 
no good." The majority of the refugees, it is said, bear 
an indifferent character; but it is only surprising that 
they are not totally demoralised and discouraged by the 
conduct of the Government and proprietary body towards 
them. We passed to-day through a sugar estate, which, 
though possessing every advantage of situation, was in a 
state verging on ruin, from carelessness and neglect. 
Whole fields of canes were so choked with long grass 
and weeds, as to be fit for nothing but to be ploughed 
or hoed in. We set out on our return about an hour 

L 3 



114 ST. LUCIA. 

before sunset. A shower had rendered the air still 
more clear than in the morning, and the scenery was, if 
possible, more beautiful. After sunset the air was 
lighted up by fire flies, floating about like sparks, one 
moment extinguished and the next re-appearing. They 
seemed to be governed by a consentaneous impulse; 
sometimes the valley below us appeared like an abyss of 
darkness, suddenly it would become an inverted firma- 
ment, studded with stars ; and then as suddenly relapse 
into darkness. The loud croaking of frogs, and the 
chirping of grasshoppers, filled the air with a singular 
night music. St. Lucia abounds with serpents, the most 
remarkable of which are the boa constrictor, and a 
mahogany coloured snake, of a very venomous nature, 
which is peculiar to some parts of North America, to 
this island, and to Martinique. It is frequently causing 
loss of life. Here also, and at Martinique, they have a 
bird of song called the '\rossignoly^ w^hich is believed to 
be identical with the mockbird. 

St. Lucia produces chiefly sugar and cofj^ee. The 
average yearly produce of the former has declined from 
10,000 to 3,000 hogsheads since it became a British 
possession. The prospects of the coming crop are 
favourable ; it is expected to reach 4,000 hogsheads. 
The coffee plantations have also declined, in conse- 
quence, as is supposed, of an alteration of climate ; but 
the injury is less extensive and severe than in Dominica. 
We passed to-day through an abandoned plantation of 
cacao, which was once extensively grown, but has de- 
clined in consequence of the low price to which it has 
fallen. St. Lucia is a Crown Colony, and governed by 
Royal Orders in Council. It has, however, a Colonial 
Council appointed by the Crown, and consisting of an 
equal number of unofficial members, and of members 
holding important offices under Government. It pos- 



ST. LUCIA. 115 

sesses legislative powers, but is entirely under the con- 
trol of the Colonial Office. The ancient constitution 
and laws of the Colony are not yet abrogated, though 
they appear to be gradually disappearing. The French 
language is almost exclusively spoken by all classes. 
The lady of the Chief Justice informed us that there 
were only two ladies in the Colony who spoke English 
till the arrival, a few days since, of the wife and daugh- 
ters of one of the stipendiary magistrates. 

St. Lucia has been more completely neglected, both 
by the Government and people of England, than any 
other Colony; and its black population is therefore 
more degraded and ignorant. It w^as observed to ub by 
an enlightened and influential resident, that " not a ray 
of light has yet reached the island, from any of the re- 
ligious or benevolent societies of the mother country." 
Another gentleman assured us, that it has not received 
twenty pounds a year for educational purposes from 
Government, out of the large sums which have been 
granted; nor any assistance from any of the societies. 
The numbers at present under instruction, out of a 
labouring population of 14,000, does not probably ex- 
ceed 100 children ; yet there is a field open to teachers 
and missionaries, which appears to posseses peculiar 
advantages to compensate for its peculiar difficulties. 
Many of the proprietors, we are assured, are ready to 
assist in furnishing suitable buildings for schools. The 
Council are anxious to speed the work, and have more 
than once brought the subject under the consideration 
of Government, but without eflPect. Several gentlemen 
have given us their opinion, that the obstacles to the 
education of the negroes created by the French language 
and Roman Catholic religion would be obviated by 
sending out natives of Guernsey, or others possessing a 
familiar acquaintance with French, and by the use of 
^he books and Scripture lessons prepared by the Irish 



116 



ST. LUCIA. 



Education Board.* It is generally agreed that the 
English language only should be taught in the schools, 
and that its diffusion is essential to the permanent im- 
provement of the Colony. The resident proprietors are 
chiefly French; many of them are moral and respect- 
able. A pleasing instance was mentioned to us, of 
judicious liberality on the part of one of them, the pro- 
prietor of a coffee estate. He gave two of his head 
negroes a piece of ground to cultivate in canes, and lent 
them money to erect a little mill. They made the first 
year a profit of sixty pounds, and he reasonably antici- 
pates, that they will be glad to continue as his tenants 
when they become free. This gentleman is actuated 
by native liberality and benevolence ; like many of the 
French colonists, he has never been further from home 
than Martinique, where they are usually sent in early 
life for education. The dissolute morals of a part of the 
white and coloured inhabitants of this Colony, as well 
as of those which we have previously visited, with the 
exception of Antigua, cannot be described in a work 
intended for general perusal. The only redeeming fea- 
ture in the existing state of things, is the general testi- 
mony that marriages are increasing, and that there has 
been a visible improvement, in recent years, in the 
morals of the coloured people and apprentices-! 

* These sentiments are recorded, as showing the anxiety of some of 
the principal colonists to second any efforts that may be made to promote 
education. We would not be understood as expressing any opinion of 
our own on the propriety of establishing a particular system. 

t Several circumstances were mentioned to us in St. Lucia, which it 
would have been our duty to have alluded to here, but they have subse- 
quently been brought under the notice of the Government, and we there- 
fci-e await the result of an authorised investigation. 



CHAPTER IX. 



BARBADOES. 

12th Month, 21 th, {December) 183G, 

We left St. Lucia last night. Our little schooner, we 
find, belongs to the Superintendent of Barbuda; three 
of the sailors are natives of that island, and our Captain 
is a coloured man from Antigua.* 

28th. — We arrived at Carlisle Bay this morning, after 
a fine passage. We saw several small whales in the 
channel between Martinique and St. Lucia; and a few 
days ago the sailors caught a dolphin, which gave us the 
painful opportunity of witnessing in its dying agonies 
the changes of colour for which it is so celebrated. We 
thought them more extraordinary than beautiful. 

Bridgetown, Barbadoes, l^th Mouth, 29th, 1836.— We 
called to-day upon A. Stronnach, the agent of the Mico 
Trustees, who has recently arrived in this Colony. He 
is busily engaged in raising a building, in a densely 
populated neighbourhood, for an infant school. He tias 
before him a prospect of extensive usefulness. 

I2th Month, 31 st. — We paid a visit to W. Moyster, at 
Providence, in Christ Church Parish, a distance of seven 
miles from Bridgetown. Our road, for upwards of a 
mile, was through the principal suburb of the town, 
which is a place of great bustle and importance, com- 
pared with the other towns we have yet seen in the 
British islands. He related to us an instance of a 
Wesleyan minister, formerly resident in this island, who, 

* See Appendix, page 3/8. 



118 BARBADOES. 

though a good man and an excellent preacher, lost the 
confidence of the negroes; and with it his usefulness 
among them in the country districts, by marrying into 
a planter's family. The negroes said of him, '« He eat 
with manager, and drink with manager, and manager 
tell him what to say to us." We made many inquiries 
of him on the subject of education, and it appears 
from his statements, that the schools are totally inade- 
quate to the wants of this dense population. About 
200 children attend the Sunday-school at Providence 
Chapel, and he had also established, at his own expense, 
a day school, which was attended by seventy children ; 
but he was about removing immediately to St. Vincent, 
and it would depend upon his successor whether it was 
continued. The Wesleyan chapel here was built at the 
sole cost of a neighbouring planter, now deceased, who 
has also left the society a considerable reversionary in- 
terest in his estates. This gentleman attached himself 
to the Wesleyans from their first arrival in the island, 
and shared in their early persecutions. He manifested 
a real concern to promote the physical comfort and 
moral elevation of his negroes, and in his will bequeathed 
to each of them half an acre of ground. We subse- 
quently passed through a part of the estate which is now 
in the possession of his widow. The negro houses are 
large and commodious, and each of them surrounded by 
a garden filled with cotton trees. 

We were introduced to an individual in this neigh- 
bourhood who is a man of colour, and one of a class of 
small, independent freeholders, which is scarcely known 
in our other West India colonies. He cultivates his 
patrimony of seven and a half acres of land, upon which 
he has erected a small mill and boiling-house, where he 
grinds and manufactures into sugar his own canes and 
those of his brothers, who reside near him. He receives 
a fair proportion of the produce for the use of his works. 



BARBADOES. 1 1 9 

He is the owner of two or three apprentices, and also 
employs, on the Saturday, labourers from the neigh- 
bouring estates, at one shilling sterling per day ; a price 
which he thinks cannot be given, when the cultivation is 
entirely carried on by free labour. The allowance of 
provisions to the apprentices is thirty pounds of yams or 
sweet potatoes, or ten pints of Guinea corn per week ; 
two pounds of salt fish per week, and two suits of clothes 
per annum. Half an acre of land and twenty-six days 
in the year, i. e. every alternate Friday, are sometimes 
substituted for these allowances. Task- work was exten- 
sively introduced some time ago, but has been generally 
abandoned ; because, as he thinks, the " scale of labour" 
was too high.* 

We called at the nearest parish school. The parishes 
are thirteen in number, and in most of them the Bishop 
has established a school. Being vacation w^eek, we could 
not see the children, but we had some conversation with 
the master, and two coloured men who were also school- 
masters. At this school there are more than 100 on 
the list, of whom ninety is the average attendance. 
From the statement of the masters it appeared, that 
their schools had been injured by the sudden introduc- 
tion of the pay system, instead of the gratuitous plan on 
which they were commenced. They complained also 
that no uniform plan of instruction had been adopted ; 
and that the clergy seldom visited their schools, or 
otherwise manifested any interest in them. 

We returned to town by a different route. In the 
morning we had seen many negroes going to market 
with their trays on their heads, and now met numbers 
returning, having disposed of the produce of their 
grounds, and supplied themselves with articles from the 
town in exchange. Barbadoes is very highly cultivated. 

* See Appendix, Section iii., page 384. 



120 BARBADOES. 

The weather during the last year has been favourablej 
and there is a prospect of a large crop ; the canes appear 
strong and heavy, and very few of them have arrowed. 
They present a great contrast to those of Antigua. 

1st Month, 1st, {January) 1837.— The Sabbath.-— 
We went this morning to the Moravian Chapel, in a 
part of the town called the Roebuck. There were about 
100 persons present at the service. This is a new 
station of the Brethren, and one in which they have the 
prospect of extensive and most useful labours; being 
situated at the edge of the town, with a dense and neg- 
lected population on one side, and a district of estates 
on the other. 

2nd. — We called to-day upon several persons inti- 
mately acquainted with the state of the Colony, and 
regret to state that all the information we received is 
of an unsatisfactory nature; with the single exception, 
that the proprietors are prosperous, and that the island 
was never in a higher state of cultivation. One gentle- 
man, who is in the interest of the planters, informs us 
that the small estates are worth double what they were 
five years ago, and that estates then valued at £20,000, 
would now fetch £35,000. Our informant said, he 
came out to Barbadoes with English feelings on the 
subject of slavery ; but his residence in the colonies, 
and the acquisition of slaves, appear to have given him 
a most unfavourable impression of the negro character. 
He complained particularly of his domestics. Though 
most anxious to be rid of them, he said they were such 
wretches, that for the sake of society he could not con- 
scientiously emancipate them. He was obliged to have 
three grooms to look after one horse, &c. Without at 
all concurring in a general extension of these sentiments 
to the non-predials, it is generally allowed in the colo- 
nies, that the apprenticeship has had a more unfavour- 
able effect on their character than on that of the field 



BARBADOES. 121 

labourers. Other disinterested persons speak unfavour- 
ably of the condition of the apprentices. The stipen- 
diaries are, perhaps, with a single exception, accustomed 
to share the hospitalities of the planters. Many of the 
apprentices complain that they have fewer privileges 
than before; they are not allowed to raise and keep 
poultry and other small stock to the same extent; and in 
consequence, a rise of prices has taken place in Bridge- 
town market. The free children are much neglected. 
After 1834 many of the planters turned them oiF the 
estates, provoked by the disappointment of their expec- 
tation, that the parents would consent to apprentice 
them ; an expectation which was baffled by the perse- 
verance of the mothers, acting under the advice of the 
Governor, Sir Lionel Smith. This extreme measure 
against the free children was happily not persevered in ; 
but cases have recently occurred, where it has again 
been resorted to. On the estates of humane resident 
proprietors, the children are taken care of in the estates' 
nurseries as before ; but in the vast majority of instances, 
they are neglected. If there is an infant school in the 
neighbourhood, they resort to it several hours before the 
instruction commences, simply because they know not 
where else to pass the time ; as their parents lock their 
doors when they go to the field, and the children are 
not allowed to be about the estates. The mortality 
amongst them has been very great since 1834. The 
boon of freedom granted, as if in mockery to their help- 
less infants, has proved a source of misery and bitter 
persecution to the negro mothers. In some cases, where 
the planters have changed the allowances of the negroes 
tor half an acre of ground, and the alternate Fridays, 
the latter have suffered great distress, in consequence of 
being left without the means of support till their land 
was brought into cultivation. 

3rd. — We visited, this morning, the infant school, under 

M 



122 BARB A DOES. 

the care of Brother Klose, the Moravian missionary at 
Sharon. There were from sixty to seventy children 
present, of two to eight years of age. Two only of the 
elder ones were apprentices, and their parents paid a 
consideration to their masters for the privilege of sending 
them. A few of the children evinced a fair proficiency 
in reading, spelling, and the multiplication tables. Some 
of them wrote on slates. Speaking of the destitute 
whites, of whom there is a large number in the island. 
Brother Klose mentioned an instance of a lady, whose 
property was entirely destroyed by the hurricane of 1831, 
and who was taken in and supported by one of her former 
slaves, who had previously purchased her freedom. 

From Sharon we proceeded to the Government House. 
The Governor, Sir Evan MacGregor, received us po- 
litely. He expressed himself decidedly in favour of 
immediate Emancipation, as adopted by the legislature 
of Antigua ; but with regard to the apprenticeship, he 
thought the time was now come for conciliation. The re- 
maining term being comparatively short, he thought it of 
great importance that there should be no unnecessary irri- 
tation of the planters, respecting defects in the provisions 
of the local Abolition Bill, or abuses which will expire 
with the apprenticeship. He would rather endeavour to 
convince them, that it is their interest to be on good terms 
with their labourers, and to induce them, if possible, to 
anticipate the period of ultimate Emancipation. 

We had some conversation with the Governor, respect- 
ing the jail discipline of the island. We had previously 
heard of a case which occurred recently, of a woman 
who was sent by one of the stipendiaries to the tread- 
mill. She had an infant in arms, which the jailer re- 
fused to receive, and which was therefore left on the 
road. The circumstance was reported to the Governor, 
who immediately ordered her to be released, and gave 
instructions to the stipendiaries, not to send women with 



BARBADOES. 123 

young children to the tread-mill. He has since directed 
that pregnant women should not be put upon it. We 
mentioned the details which had been sent to us by our 
fellow-travellers, Scoble and Lloyd, of the scenes they 
witnessed in the jail. Sir Evan had then very recently 
assumed the government. He had already turned his 
attention to the state of the jail, and had discovered and 
rectified some of the abuses. He had directed that the 
Superintendent of the tread-mill should no longer carry 
a cat, but that if the prisoners were refractory, a magis- 
trate should be sent for, and they should be summarily 
punished by his authority. We requested to be allowed 
to inspect the monthly journals of the stipendiaries, which 
he kindly granted. 

After leaving Government House we called upon the 
Bishop, who gave us some valuable information on the 
state of education. There are about 8000 children in 
the diocese, receiving instruction in schools under the 
care of the clergy. The number has declined within the 
last year, in consequence of an attempt made to intro- 
duce the pay system, which has failed, except in Deme- 
rara. No opposition is now encountered on the part of 
the proprietors, but many of them manifest much apathy, 
and render no assistance. The teachers are black and 
coloured persons. The greatest difficulty experienced in 
this island, is not the want of qualification on the part of 
coloured teachers, but their preference for more lucra- 
tive employments. Besides the children actually attend- 
ing school, many others receive instruction from other 
children, and improve themselves by attending the Sun- 
day-schools. 

4th. — One of the stipendiary magistrates has kindly 
furnished us with a tabular statement of particulars re- 
specting the free children, which he has collected with 
considerable labour. From this document it appears, 
that out of 1150 free children on the forty-nine estates, 



124 BARBADOES. 

in the smallest district in the island, sixty-two receive 
food, fifty-one clothing, 189 medical care, twenty-seven 
some kind of education, and the remainder nothing, 
from the proprietors of the estates to which their parents 
are attached. Of those who receive food, clothing, and 
medical attendance, forty-nine belong to the estate of 
one humane proprietor. 

We visited to-day Mount Tabor, the third Moravian 
station in Barbadoes, where we inspected the infant 
school, in which there were about seventy scholars. 
About ten or twelve read in the Testament, and spell 
very creditably. A few also had begun to write. They 
were free children, and the master told us their parents 
were endeavouring to have all of them brought up to 
trades, and not to agriculture. This is one of the bane- 
ful effects of the apprenticeship, which continues and 
increases the character of degradation which is attached 
to field labour, and creates an injurious distinction be- 
tween children of the same parents who were above, and 
those who were under, six years of age in 1 834. 

5th. — ^We availed ourselves this morning of the per- 
mission of the Governor, to look over the journals of the 
stipendiary magistrates, which occupied us for several 
hours.* We have made many inquiries respecting the 
manner in which the stipendiaries discharge their duties ; 
but neither the information we receive, nor the prima facie 
evidence of their own records, tends to give us a favour- 
able impression. The departure of one of the early 
magistrates. Colonel Bushe, is much regretted by the 
friends of the apprentices. He was removed by military 1 
promotion. Another of the present magistrates has the 
presumptive evidence in his favour of having been per- 
secuted by the planters, and of having been removed by 
Sir Lionel Smith, from the largest to the smallest dis- 

* See Appendix, Section ii., page 380. 



BARBADOES. 125 

trict in the island. Were the magistrates disposed, how- 
ever, to protect the apprentices, the master possesses 
such powers of annoyance and persecution, that the ap- 
prentice can have no effectual remedy in the exercise of 
his right of appeal. In many instances complaining ne- 
groes have had their goats and poultry killed ; in others, 
their houses have been pulled down, and sheds erected 
instead, six feet by seven, just wide enough to come 
within the letter of the law, which requires that they 
shall be provided with " lodging." The turning the free 
children off the estates, and changing their mode of 
subsistence, by giving them half an acre of rocky, unpro- 
ductive ground, and twenty-six days in the year, in lieu 
of allowances, have been already alluded to. We regret 
to state, that the medical men are sometimes made 
parties to oppression. Three women were recently 
brought by a manager before a special magistrate, on a 
charge of refusing to work, two of whom had each a very 
young infant in arms, and the third twins. The manager 
produced a medical certificate of their capability. In this 
instance, however, the stipendiary dismissed the cases. 

6th. — We went this morning to the jail, and by per- 
mission of the Provost Marshal were shown over the 
whole of it. The wards are kept very clean, and some 
attention is paid to classification. We were told that 
the prison was always healthy, and that during the 
prevalence of the fever last autumn, not a single case 
occurred within its walls: so far in its praise. The 
number of prisoners is 204; the accommodations are 
much too small, and at night the rooms are excessively 
crowded. In one room there are ten men waiting their 
trial at the next sessions ; and among them, some whose 
cases remain over from the last sessions, at the request 
of the prosecutor to the Attorney General. As the 
sessions or assizes are held only once in six months, 
these men may endure a twelvemonth's imprisonment, 

M 3 



126 BARBADOES. 

at the end of which they may be declared innocent ; or 
if it should still not suit their prosecutor's convenience 
to appear against them, they may be discharged without 
any trial at all. It appears extraordinary, seeing the 
inconveniences experienced by the insufficient accom- 
modation in the jail for so large a number of prisoners, 
and that all the judges and officers of the Court reside 
within the island, that there should be a jail delivery 
only once in six months; but that the oppressive con- 
sequences of this arrangement should, to some unfor- 
tunate prisoners who ought to be presumed innocent till 
proved guilty, be aggravated by their cases being re- 
manded over to the next Court, at the wish of their 
prosecutors, is an intolerable abuse. In another room 
of the jail, there are twenty men who have been tried 
and found " not guilty," who are detained till they have 
each paid twelve and a half dollars for the fees of pro- 
secution. In another small room, were twenty-eight 
prisoners under sentence of transportation. We saw, also, 
the two sick wards, in which there were but few cases. 
Those who are sentenced to the tread- mill, have to work 
out afterwards any time they may lose by sickness. 

We next went to see the tread-mill. Several women 
and two or three weakly men were upon it. When they 
did not keep step, the Superintendent struck them with 
his flat hand. There was a cat suspended on a nail in 
the room, but we did not see it used. The punishment 
did not appear too severe for the physical strength of 
the robust, but one of the men seemed quite unequal to 
the exertion. He was, from the first, slower than the 
rest, and soon suffered the mill to revolve against his 
knees, being held on by the arms from above, and occa- 
sionally making ineffectual attempts to resume the step. 
He was suffered to hang till the time expired. The Su- 
perintendent told us, that this was the man's constant 
practice, and that it proceeded from sulkiness ; but from 



BARBADOES. 



121 



an inquiry made by the Provost Marshal, who was with 
us, it appeared he had been sick. He was old and 
infirm, and we find it difficult to believe that he would 
endure torture rather than submit to punishment. Pur- 
suant to an order of the late Governor, Sir Lionel Smith, 
the heads of all prisoners sentenced to the tread-mill are 
shaved. By the females this is considered the most 
degrading part of the punishment. It is put in force, 
whether they are committed for a few days or for three 
months ; whether their crimes are such as imply a moral 
degradation of character, as stealing, or whether they 
are those nominal and constructive offences which form 
the great mass of complaints against them under the 
apprenticeship law ; as alleged insolence, insufficiency or 
inequality of work, &c. Surely, for such offences of 
women, as " linen badly washed, and impertinence ; 
doing only half as much in potato-hoeing one day as 
they did the day before;" the punishment of seven 
days' tread-mill, first class,* would be more than suf- 
ficiently severe, without this additional degradation. 
These barbarous punishments appear to be based upon 
the theory, that the negro female does not possess the 
deep feelings and delicate sensibilities of her sex ; or if 
she does possess them, that they are incompatible with 
her servile condition, and ought to be obliterated. On 
comparing our observations at the jail with those of 
our friend J. Scoble, when he visited it six weeks ago, 
it appears that some of the more glaring abuses have 
already been corrected by the new Governor. J. Scoble 
observes, that during the whole time the scenes he wit- 
nessed were transacting, ''the Barbadoes Legislature 
were holding their sessions within thirty yards of the 
tread-mill." We incidentally learned, that Sir Evan 
MacGregor first became acquainted with the manner 

* Journals of stipendiaries. 



128 BARBADOES. 

in which the tread-mill was worked, by observing it from 
the windows of the Council Chamber. It is impossible 
to avoid the presumption, that, under the same circum- 
stances, Sir Lionel Smith must often have witnessed 
the sufferings or heard the cries of the unfortunate 
victims of torture; yet under his administration these 
things were permitted to continue. 

On our return from the jail we called at the office of 
the stipendiary magistrate for the town district. The 
business for the day was nearly concluded. One negro 
complained against his master for not giving him his 
allowance of clothes. The magistrate told him to bring 
his master before him, but, by way of warning, read to 
him the clause of the Act, imposing a penalty on 
apprentices preferring false and malicious charges, with 
an intimation that he would be punished if he did not 
sustain his case. In another case, an apprentice sum- 
moned her master for refusing to give her a pass to get 
employment. It appears that many of the non-predial 
apprentices procure employment for themselves, and 
pay their masters the weekly hire of half a dollar, sup- 
porting themselves entirely except in sickness. In the 
present case, the apprentice was willing to pay her hire 
regularly, but insisted on choosing her own service, 
while her master insisted on choosing it for her. The 
magistrate, apparently anxious to make her understand 
the relation in which she stood, said to her, "You are 
the property of your master, and he can do what 
he likes with you. You must not think you can go and 
work where you please. You are his property ; he can 
make you stay at home to do his work, or he can hire 
you out to any person he thinks proper." Such is the 
position of the nominally emancipated negro, and such 
are the doctrines maintained by a functionary, appointed 
to carry into effect an Act for " The Abolition of Slavery." 
The magistrate told us, that the non-predials were fast 



BARBADOES. 129 

buying out their time; he sometimes registered thirty 
manumissions in a month. 

We have heard to-day, that a measure is in contem- 
plation for apprenticing the free children, without the 
consent of their parents. This report has occasioned 
great alarm to the friends of the negroes.* A gentleman 
with whom, we conversed on this subject, told us, that 
some time ago a woman came to him with twins in her 
arms, about three months old, whom her master had 
desired to apprentice ; and when she refused, he insisted 
on sending them away from the estate. They were 
taken to a charitable institution, where one of them sub- 
sequently died. He knew another case, where a master 
sent away a child about a month old, and refused to 
allow its mother to go to see it. In this instance the 
interference of the late Governor procured redress. He 
observed to us, that he considered the negro character 
had been much misrepresented. In the course of a long 
experience he had found them patient, enduring, and by 
no means vindictive. They are honest in great matters, 
though addicted to taking trifling articles, which they do 
not consider stealing. They have the same natural 
affection for their children as Europeans, notwithstand- 
ing all assertions to the contrary. They are of quick 
tempers, and apt in their disputes to break out into vio- 
lent language, but rarely fight or injure one another. 
They attach great importance to being addressed in re- 
spectful language, and always use it in their common 
intercourse with each other. They are suspicious of their 
masters, and can rarely be induced to believe, when he 
offers them any indulgence, that he has their benefit and 
not his own in view. 

We went this evening to an adult school, which is held 
for an hour twice a week, in a room provided for the 

* See Appendix, Section v., page 384. 



130 BARBADOES. 

purpose by W. M. Harte, the Rector of St. Mary's. 
There were about 100 present, who were nearly all ap- 
prentices : many have no other education than what they 
receive here. 

7th. — We called on the Rector of St. Mary's, who 
gave us some particulars of the useful results of the be- 
nefit societies, formed in connexion with his church. One 
of their regulations, that married persons only shall be- 
come members of them, has been found very beneficial. 
Concubinage is now considered discreditable, and mar- 
riages are fast increasing among the coloured and black 
population. 

An individual upon whom we called to-day, mentioned 
to us a case, of which all the facts have not been ascer- 
tained, because the investigation was conducted by the 
special magistrate, (Coulthurst,) with closed doors. So far 
it is known, that some time ago a letter was sent to the 
Earl of Harewood, purporting to come from several ne- 
groes on one of his estates, complaining against their 
manager for short allowances and ill-treatment. Lord 
Harewood, desirous no doubt to have the complaint in- 
quired into, and, if found true, the abuses rectified, sent 
the letter to his attorney, who handed it to the manager. 
The manager summoned the negroes before the magis- 
trate. They denied having written the letter, or having 
authorised any one to write it for them; but they per- 
sisted that the facts stated in it were true. They were 
severely punished. One of the men was degraded to an 
inferior employment, and to escape further persecution, 
has since raised the means to purchase his freedom. 
The following circumstance was related to us to-day, as 
illustrative of the advantages of immediate Emancipa- 
tion. Our informant was some years ago in the Colony 
of Berbice, not long after the emancipation of the Winkel 
negroes, a body of slaves belonging to the Government. 
He inquired of a person high in office, how these people 



BARBADOES. 131 

were conducting themselves. The reply was, that no- 
thing could be more deplorable than their condition; 
they were idle and dissolute, and the pest of society ; the 
Government could not have done a greater injury to the 
Colony than by emancipating them. Shortly afterwards, 
he saw the protector of slaves, to whom he expressed his 
regret, on hearing of the conduct of, these liberated ne- 
groes. The protector assured him he had received a 
prejudiced account; that their deportment was most 
satisfactory, and that not one of them, that he had heard 
of, had been taken before a magistrate. Our informant 
subsequently went to the village where the Winkel ne- 
groes resided, in order to ascertain which of these con- 
tradictory statements was true. He went into twenty of 
their dwellings in succession, and found, in every one, 
evidences of industry and domestic comfort. In every 
house there was a Bible or Testament, and in most of 
them some one of the inmates could read. 

8th. — We went this morning to the adult Sunday- 
school connected with St. Mary's church. Besides a 
large number of old people, who were under examin- 
ation as candidates for baptism, there were present about 
sixty scholars learning to read, in three or four classes. 
They were from fourteen to upwards of sixty years of 
age ; several very old people were even in the alphabet 
class, and came, we were told, a distance of eight or ten 
miles to the school ; an affecting proof of the general 
desire among the negroes for education. From the 
school we proceeded to church. Though the Rector is 
free from prejudice himself, distinctions of colour are 
still kept up in his congregation. Formerly, black and 
coloured persons were confined to the gallery ; now they 
are allowed to occupy the pews in the lower half of the 
body of the church. The space appropriated to them 
was much crowded. At the close of the service, a col- 
lection was made for paying off the debt on the building 



132 BARBADOES. 

of a new church in a neighbouring parish. From a 
statement which was read, it appeared that £100 had 
been contributed to this object, from the "hurricane 
fund." The application of this fund deserves to be 
made a subject of parliamentary inquiry. The distri- 
bution of it has been by no means satisfactory to many 
of the sufferers. It is complained that some persons of 
small property, who were entirely ruined by the hurri- 
cane, had no relief from it, while others of large fortune 
obtained considerable grants. 

One of us visited, in the afternoon, the Wesleyan 
Sunday-school, where there were assembled about 300 
scholars, and sixty or seventy teachers. The conductor 
of it was a negro, who made, at the conclusion, a very 
appropriate address to the children and teachers. Some 
prizes of little books were then distributed. 

9th. — A gentleman showed us to-day two old maps 
of Barbadoes, which threw some light on the manners 
and customs of the early colonists. The first was of the 
date of 1675. The island appeared to have been at that 
time but partially cleared of its native forest. Among 
the figures of the wild and domestic animals, was the 
camel, which was used then, and long afterwards, as a 
beast of burden. There was also a figure of a planter 
pursuing runaway negroes, and firing at them with his 
pistol. In another map, of more recent date, five 
Quakers' meeting houses were marked. 

Archdeacon Eliot and the Rector of St. Mary's kindly 
accompanied us to visit some of the principal schools in 
Bridgetown, under the care of the establishment. We 
went first to the infant school, which is attended by 1 50 
children; and from thence to the boys' school, where, 
though it was the first day after the Christmas vacation, 
the attendance was about 150, out of 180 on the list. 
We heard several classes read, and answer questions, in 
which they displayed considerable proficiency as well as 



BARBADOES. 133 

in spelling and arithmetic. About fifty of the children 
were apprentices. We had not the opportunity of ascer- 
taining on what terms they obtained leave to attend 
school, except that in one instance the owner received 
a consideration from the boy's parent for allowing him 
to come. The master is a negro ; he was educated in 
the school himself, and is a well qualified teacher. In 
the girls' school, which we next visited, the attendance 
was about seventy out of eighty-five. They were nearly 
in the same state of discipline and proficiency as the 
boys. In the first class were several apprentices, whose 
mistresses voluntarily sent them for improvement. Bar- 
badoes is far behind Antigua in the general spread of 
education, but is in advance of it in the character of its 
schools. Besides those which we visited to»day, which 
are in a satisfactory state of efficiency, there are many 
good private schools for all classes. 

10th. — We went at noon to the House of Assembly. 
This body, like that of Antigua, meets by short adjourn- 
ments, and is always in session. It is annually elected. 
The proceedings to-day were not of much interest. 
Several bills were read a first, second, and third time ; 
and, so far as the lower House is concerned, were pushed 
through their several stages in one sitting. The Soli- 
citor General gave notice, in a speech of considerable 
length, of a Bill to adopt, on the part of this Colony, the 
Imperial Act for a change in the judicial system. The 
Solicitor General appears to possess great influence in 
the House, and is reported to possess great influence 
out of it, particularly in the councils of the Governor. 
He is a young man of agreeable manners, and a persua- 
sive speaker. He politely introduced himself to us, in 
the lobby of the House, and conversed with us for a few 
minutes on the statQ of the jail, and the administration 
of criminal justice ; and also on the condition of the free 
children. Their destination, he observed, had become 



134 BARBADOES. 

a vital question to the Colony. They were now being 
brought up in habits of idleness and petty stealing. He 
wished they could be apprenticed till their mothers 
became free, were it merely for the purposes of main- 
tenance and education ; but complained of the jealousy 
existing on this subject in England, where it was charac- 
terised as a perpetuation of slavery. He observed, that 
sending the children away from the estate had only oc- 
curred in one or two instances, and he expressed much 
indignation at the conduct of those who had been guilty 
of it. The great desiderata in the colonies were schools 
combining agriculture with learning. 

11th. — The population of Barbadoes is supposed to 
be above 120,000. According to the ordinary ratio of 
increase, the Colony, without injury to itself, might 
afford the other colonies several thousand emigrants 
annually; yet the legislature has passed an Act, the effect 
of which will be to prevent the labouring population 
leaving the island. This Act awaits the sanction of the 
home Government to become law. 

We went this morning to the jail with the Rector of 
St. Mary*s, who is chaplain to the prison. There were 
about 150 present at prayers, whose behaviour was atten- 
tive and decorous. One only of the white prisoners 
attended — the prejudice of caste being preserved even 
among criminals. The minister addressed them, at the 
conclusion, briefly and affectionately. We called in the 
course of the day at the Secretary's Office, and obtained 
permission to inspect the registry of apprentices. They 
are duly classified as predials or non-predials, but the 
return is made by the planters, and tradesmen on the 
plantations are included in the former class. 

We met to-day a gentleman of great intelligence and 
extensive information, who told us tkat he knew at least 
one planter in the island, an attorney for several estates, 
who was preparing for Emancipation by increasing the 



BARBADOES. 135 

comforts of his negroes. Probably there are many who 
adopt the same enlightened course. He said, that in 
some instances the nett profits of the last two years 
were equal to more than half the value of the fee-simple 
of the estates, and that the prosperity of the planters 
was unexampled. He feared there was little or no im- 
provement in the morals of a certain class of the 
colonists* He had heard men, who were accounted 
respectable, boast of their immoralities, and complain 
of the change which had taken place in the sentiments 
of the coloured people, and of the presumption of the 
coloured females in aspiring to marriage. 

13th. — We went to see the Wesleyan day school. It 
was commenced some years ago, by a coloured man, 
who was a cabinet maker, in humble circustances. He 
observed a number of children, accustomed to play 
in the street before his door, and conceived the idea of 
occupying their time and attention more profitably by 
teaching them to read. He succeeded, and his scholars 
soon became so numerous that he was compelled to 
seek other means of having them instructed. His efforts 
resulted in the establishment of the present school, 
which is held in a small, dilapidated building, crowded 
with about 150 children. A considerable proportion of 
them are apprentices. We heard the first classes, both 
of boys and girls, read and spell, and examined them 
also in arithmetic. Their performance was very credit- 
able to themselves and their teachers. They answered 
Scripture questions wdth unusual readiness. Though 
the expenses of this school are very trifling, yet it is 
dependent, from month to month, on casual assistance. 

A local magistrate mentioned to a gentleman of our 
acquaintance, that he had sent a man to the tread-mill, 
for fourteen days, -on a charge of trespass. The man 
was found at the house of an apprentice on another pro- 
perty, to whom he asserted he was lawfully married. 



136 BARBADOES. 

On the magistrate being asked why he inflicted such a 
penalty, he said the law was imperative.* When the 
apprentices commit offences against any individual who 
is not their owner, or against the public peace, they are 
taken out of the jurisdiction of the stipendiary magi- 
strates. This is sometimes made an engine of oppres- 
sion. One flagrant instance has been mentioned to us, 
where a negro was accused of some crime by his master, 
and the threat of prosecution was held in terrorem over 
his head for fourteen months, during which period he 
was subjected to much oppression ; and when at length 
he was wearied out and ready to complain to the Special 
Justice, the threat was carried into execution. He was 
taken before a local magistrate, who committed him to 
take his trial for the offence. 

We had to-day the pleasure of making the acquaint- 
ance of Joseph Wheeler, the agent of the Bible Society, 
who has just arrived from Trinidad. Some time ago, he 
spent several weeks in Hayti, and his observations on 
the appearance and condition of its population gave him 
a favourable impression. We have heard several who 
have visited Hayti speak of it in similar terms; but, 
usually, the inhabitants of the other West India islands 
are as little acquainted with its condition as if it were 
in the other hemisphere. 

We embarked this evening for Jamaica, in the Echo 
steamer, which came into port this morning, having left 
England four days before the packet, which has been 
long expected, and is not yet arrived. 



* During our stay in Antigua we met a gentleman from this island, 
who informed us that he had thus punished husbands and wives, residing 
on different estates, for visiting each other, observing, that the law allowed 
the magistrate no discretion. 



CHAPTER X. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 
BARBADOES, 

In all the Islands which we have yet visited, where the 
apprenticeship has been introduced, the apprenticed la- 
bourers are peaceable and industrious ; in all of them pro- 
perty has risen in value since 1834; and, independently 
of the seasons, the production and export are as large as 
they were during slavery. In Barbadoes the cultivation 
was never in a better state than at this moment; the ensu- 
ing crop is expected considerably to exceed an average, and 
estates have risen very greatly in value. This prosperity 
is chiefly to be attributed to the measures of the Imperial 
Parliament. The Colony has received an immense com- 
pensation for losses which it has not. yet incurred, and 
which it is by no means probable that it will ever have 
to sustain. The state of things may, to this extent, be 
considered satisfactory, but it cannot illustrate the effects 
of Emancipation, except that the price given for estates 
proves that the planters are at length persuaded that 
they will be able to carry on a profitable cultivation 
after the year 1840. We do not find that the most dis- 
tant fears are entertained that the negroes will forsake 
estate labour when free, or will refuse to work for rea- 
sonable wages. On the other hand, so far as the negro 
is concerned, the apprenticeship is a system of unmixed 
evil ; and though it may appear in some colonies to be 
a source of temporary profit to the plrmter, yet his real 
and permanent interests would have been far better 



138 GENERAL REMARKS 

secured by adopting the course which has been pursued 
in Antigua. The apprenticeship is not Emancipation, 
but slavery under another name ; and though it appears 
to be in some respects a modified and mitigated slavery, 
it has also its peculiar disadvantages, which more than 
counterbalance whatever good it contains. It is not 
in any sense a state of preparation for freedom. Its 
introduction was attended with danger, from the disap- 
pointment of the excited expectations of the negroes; 
its progress is marked by continual irritation ; and, at its 
close, all the re^l difficulties attending the change of 
slaves into free labourers remain to be encountered 
under the most unfavourable auspices. 

Barbadoes being one of the most important of the 
British colonies, and differing from the other islands in 
its physical character, state of agriculture, and amount 
of population, as well as in some of the general features 
of its social system, the following observations may not 
be deemed unimportant. Though an undulating island, 
its highest hills are not more than a few hundred feet 
above the sea. It is, in fact, a coralline formation, 
covered with a thin layer of soil, from six to eighteen 
inches deep, except in the valleys and low-lands, where 
the mould is of great depth and richness. On the higher 
ground the rock is in many places exposed. The coasts 
are so little indented that it has scarcely what can be 
called a harbour, but it possesses great advantages of 
situation, being, according to the regular course of the 
trades^ the most windward of the islands, and, conse- 
quently, a station from which all the others are easily 
accessible. In one respect it is an exception among 
slave countries, being an extraordinary example of 
agricultural prosperity. One of the most limited in 
its natural resources, it is one of the most important 
of our colonies, in amount of produce, wealth, and 
commerce. In proportion to its size it is more densely 



ON BARBADOES. 139 

peopled than China, and is cultivated like a garden. 
Its soil, though it has long lost its natural fertility, is 
the source of far more wealth to its proprietors than the 
virgin lands of more fertile islands. It has a large and 
busy capital and sea-port, a numerous middle class, and 
a body of native resident proprietors, who have found it 
possible to forget that England is "home," and who 
glory in the title of " Barbadians." They possess a real 
nationality, with characteristics, neither English, Irish, 
nor Scotch. Barbadoes is called " little England," by 
way of pre-eminence ; a name which it deserves, from 
the prevalence of English comforts and refinements; 
though, among other features of resemblance to the 
mother country, we regret to notice a great body of 
white paupers,* and numerous licensed houses for the 
sale of spirits. 

Paradoxical as it may seem, it is yet evident that it 
owes its superior wealth to its exhausted soil and dense 
population. " By repeated croppings, the soil (of Bar- 
badoes) had become, less than half a century since, so 
much worn as to be almost unproductive in the sugar- 
cane ; but by the substitution of other crops, particularly 
the Guinea corn, a system of soiling and tethering 
cattle was introduced, which has not only been the 
means of retrieving the lands, but has, perhaps, made 
them more productive than ever, adding, at the same 
time, to those numberless conveniences and resources 
which never fail to proceed from a due attention to the 
brute animals." f It thus appears that the wholesome 
pressure of circumstances, which, to the superficial ob- 
server, foreboded nothing less than the ruin of the 
Colony, has occasioned the introduction of a more ra- 
tional system of agriculture, and elevated the island to 



* See Appendix, Section i., page 380. 

t Dr. Nugent's ** Report of Antigua Agricultural Association." 



140 GENERAL REMARKS 

its present position. Both in the field and in the 
boihng-house the system of the Barbadian planter is 
many degrees in advance of those of the colonists of 
the other islands. In the management of their slaves, 
as slaves^ the Barbadians equally excelled. Like good 
farmers, they bestowed the same attention upon them 
as upon their cattle ; and if the negroes had been 
animals and not men, their success would have done 
honour even to their humanity. Their aim was to keep 
them in the highest working and breeding condition, in 
which they succeeded; and though ever reputed the 
severest disciplinarians, yet theirs was the only sugar 
colony where the population rapidly increased. 

The Barbadoes legislature was the latest to pass an 
Act for the Abolition of Slavery, as required by the 
Imperial Government ; and the planters have since suc- 
ceeded in moulding the apprenticeship into an almost 
perfect likeness of the system they so unwillingly relin- 
quished. An equal, if not greater amount, of uncom- 
pensated labour, is now extorted from the negroes : 
while, as their owners have no longer the same interest 
in their health and lives, their condition, and particu- 
larly that of mothers and young children, is in many 
respects worse than during slavery. For a complete ex- 
empUfication of the character of the apprenticeship, we 
refer to an analysis in the Appendix, of the record of 
complaints and decisions in the journal of a stipendiary 
magistrate, with illustrative cases.* By these it appears 
that corporal punishments are almost laid aside ; but the 
negroes are deprived of their time, on which they are to 
a great extent dependent, for the maintenance of them- 
selves and their offspring. The operation of the law, 
which compels the apprentices to refund the time lost, 
when they are punished by imprisonment, (thus imposing 

* See Appendix, Section ii., page 380. 



A 



ON BARBADOES. 



141 



a double penalty for the same offence,) and the forfeiture 
of their Saturdays to the estates, have given the planters 
a direct interest in the punishment of their labourers. 
Nor must it be forgotten, that there are benevolent 
planters, who never have occasion to employ the autho- 
rity of the stipendiaries; and that this penal and oppres- 
sive law, with its costly and complicated administration, 
is upheld solely for the purposes of men, who know no 
other means of maintaining their authority than terror^ 
and who can comprehend no motive to induce their ne- 
groes to labour but coercion. The little that was want- 
ing to make the apprenticeship the heavy burden that it 
now is to the negroes, has been supplied by Sir Lionel 
Smith's " Scale of Labour." * 

The prejudice against colour is stronger in Barbadoes 
than in any other colony, although the coloured class of 
its population is numerous, wealthy, and respectable, and 
comprises some of the first merchants of the island. No 
coloured student has yet been admitted within the walls 
of Codrington College. The public opinion of the Co- 
lony is powerful, and exercises an unfavourable influence. 
There are, indeed, two kinds of public opinion, of un- 
equal and opposite forces; first, that of the English 
public, feeble and indirect in its effects, but setting in a 
strong tide against slavery, and its accompanying abuses : 
secondly, the sentiments of the dominant party in the 
Colony, in favour of existing institutions ; the belief that 
the blacks are by nature of an inferior race, and born to 
a servile condition ; and the spirit of caste cherished be- 
tween the white, mixed, and black races. In none of 
the British colonies is this local public opinion stronger 
than in Barbadoes ; and the slavery of mind among the 
free classes is scarcely less obvious than the outward 
bondage of the negroes. Many who have a deep sense 

* See Appendix, Section ill., page 384. 



142 GENERAL REMARKS ON BARBADOES. 

of existing wrongs, and some even who are sufferers in 
their own persons, dare not express their sentiments; 
and an individual who refuses to think and speak with 
the multitude, must live a life of solitude in the midst of 
society. In all other respects, to one endowed with moral 
courage, " the spider's most attenuated thread " is not 
more weak than this unseen but despotic power, which 
seals all lips, and fetters all minds.* 

* The contrast between the state of society in this island and Jamaica 
is in this respect remarkable. There the pro-slavery faction is louder 
and more violent ; and persecution has within recent years raged with 
all its fury ; yet among those who presume to differ from the reigning 
opiaion, there is a freedom of thought and expression, and an independ- 
ence of action, which cannot be found among the same class in Barba- 
does. 



c o n Y 



. l 



. y 











i4\'.aA:<^ . . m/cc- SC. ■^'o'l /^'-'o^ii ,:^:>rccu-n 



CHAPTER XL 



JAMAICA. 

KINGSTON, ST. ANDREW'S, AND ST. CATHERINE'S. 

1*; Month, 22nd, {January) 1837. 

We came to anchor at Port Royal, early this morning, 
having had a fine voyage and very favourable weather 
since leaving Barbadoes. Being in the " trades," we did 
not employ the steam till within a day of our arrival. 
The distant view of Jamaica from the sea is of the same 
verdant and mountainous character as Dominica and 
Martinique, but on a more stupendous scale. The lofty 
summits of the blue mountains are usually wrapped in 
clouds. Our only fellow-passengers were Captain Bel- 
cher, and two of his officers, who were going to take the 
command of a surveying expedition on the western coast 
of America. Their intention was to cross the isthmus 
of Panama, proceeding in boats up the river Chagres, 
and thence across the mountains on mules. As we were 
entering the harbour, the fleet on this station were leav- 
ing it, to blockade the ports of the republic of Granada, 
which includes the isthmus. This intelligence threatened 
an unexpected obstruction to Captain Belcher's more 
peaceable operations, especially as he had many pack- 
ages of valuable apparatus, which could not be conveyed 
across the mountains without the aid of the natives. We 
have met, in our several voyages, three officers who have 
visited Pitcairn's Island, in the South Seas, and each on 
different occasions. They all give the same account of 
the simple and amiable character of these islanders, but 



144 JAMAICA. 

observe, that they are beginning to be corrupted by the 
vices of the Europeans and Americans, whose whahng 
vessels occasionally touch at Pitcairn's Island for water 
and provisions. The distance from Port Royal across 
the harbour to Kingston is about five miles. We went 
up in a boat with the mail-bags, a circumstance to which 
we owed the recovery of a number of our letters of in- 
troduction ; a parcel of them having been stolen from us 
during our voyage from Barbadoes to Antigua. Those 
addressed to parties in Jamaica had been loosely wrapped 
in a parcel, and forwarded by the very steamer in which 
we arrived. The Deputy Postmaster-general, on open- 
ing the parcel, and discovering the nature of its con- 
tents, politely restored them to us, having learned our 
arrival from the young man in charge of the mails. As 
it was the Sabbath, we went in the evening to one of the 
Yvesleyan chapels, a very large and substantial building, 
but not more than half filled. The congregation was 
composed of black or coloured persons; the body of it 
being thrown open for the poorer class, and the galleries 
reserved for the more opulent. At the conclusion of the 
service, notice was given of sermons during every day in 
the ensuing week; and we found, on inquiry, that the 
District Meeting, or Island Conference, was about to be 
held, as well as the anniversaries of the various societies 
having a religious or moral object. We subsequently 
called upon Joshua Tinson, the senior Baptist mission- 
ary, who gave us a kind welcome to Jamaica. 

*23rd. — We breakfasted with J. Tinson, at whose 
house we had the pleasure of meeting W. Wemyss An- 
derson. We were also introduced, in the course of the 
day, to the Attorney General, Do well O'Reilly, and to 
J. M. Trew, the Director of the Mico Institution. The 
Mico schools in Kingston are already established on a 
large scale ; their advantages, however, so long as the 
apprenticeship exists, will, with few exceptions, be 



JAMAICA. 145 

limited to the free children. We attended in the 
evening the anniversary of the Jamaica Bible Society. 
There were five or six hundred persons present, of whom 
very few were whites. The addresses of the speakers 
were appropriate and excellent. J. M. Trew, who was 
in the chair, stated, in the course of an animated speech, 
that at one of the Mico schools in tlie country, he had 
recently made a collection among the children for mis- 
sionary objects. The little sums which they gave, ex- 
ceeding what he expected from them, induced him to 
inquire how they obtained their money. They earned 
it by teaching their adult friends and neighbours to read, 
after the labours of the day were over. Nearly every 
one was occupied in teaching his parent, or uncle, or 
neighbour, and even, in some instances, grandfather and 
grandmother ; so highly do even the adult and the aged 
prize the opportunity of learning to read ! The gift 
book of the Bible Society, com,prising the New Testa- 
ment and Psalms, has been very useful in encouraging 
the desire for instruction which is at present so general 
among the negroes. 

24th. — We have before alluded to the effect of the 
apprenticeship on domestic servants. It has taken away, 
to a great extent, the fear of punishment, without sup- 
plying any better motive for exertion, in the hope of 
reward. The landlord of the hotel to which we went 
on our arrival in Kingston, told us that he had twenty- 
five apprentices, of whose conduct he made the most 
grievous complaints. He did not take them before the 
special magistrate, because he knew they would then 
become totally unmanageable. But while describing 
the annoyances to which he was subjected, and express- 
ing his desire for free servants, he complained, almost 
in the same breath, of Government, because it did not 
send the captured slavers here, and apprentice the 
negroes to the inhabitants. A person who has been in 

o 



146 



JAMAICA. 



the colonies, ceases to wonder at the fact, that slave- 
masters of European birth and education, are usually 
more severe than those born in the West Indies. They 
are accustomed to the active energy of free servants, 
while the Creoles, though familiar from infancy with 
despotic power, are more easily satisfied with the in- 
dolent languor and comparative inefficiency of their 
slaves. Conversing on this subject with an estimable 
gentleman of this city, he observed to us, that, in this 
country, the heart and temper were often put to a severe 
trial; and that a man would learn more of his own 
character in a few months, than in England in as many 
years. 

One of the special magistrates, Stephen Bourne,* 
called upon us this morning, and gave us an invitation 
to his house, which is situated in the mountains, about 
nine miles distant from town. We drove thither in 
the evening. The climate of the elevated portions of 
Jamaica is temperate and salubrious. Our kind host and 
his wife, and their interesting family of seven children, of 
various ages, have enjoyed uninterrupted health, during 
their two years' residence in the Colony. The property 
on which their house is situated, is a ruinate coffee plan- 
tation. Besides orange trees in full bearing, mangoes, 
pines, and many tropical fruits, English apples, potatoes, 
peas, and other vegetables, are grown upon it. The 
latter, however, appear to degenerate. 

25th. — This morning we accompanied our host to 
Silver-hill, an estate twelve miles distant, in the heart 

* This gentleman, to whom we are indebted for his hospitality, and 
for the opportunity of attending his Courts, has experienced much unde- 
served obloquy, in consequence of his being supposed to have made 
statements to us prejudicial to the colonists. It is due to him to state, 
that he expressed great anxiety that we should see both sides of the 
question, and accompanied us to several estates in his district, which 
were likely to give us a favourable impression of the condition of the 
negroes, and the character of their proprietors. 



JAMAICA. 147 

of this mountainous district, where he was going to hold 
a Court. Four cases of complaint were brought before 
him. They were all substantiated, and the offenders 
received suitable punishments and admonitions. They 
thanked the magistrate, and appeared satisfied with his 
decisions, though some had been very earnest and in- 
genious in their defences. He had listened patiently 
to all they had to say, and by that means appeared to 
obtain their confidence. The overseer* of this estate is 
a man of colour; he respects the law, though a strict 
disciplinarian. He has kept a registry of the births and 
deaths of infants as during slavery, from which it appears 
that the comparative number of deaths has not in- 
creased. The children have the same medical care, 
and the same treatment in other respects as before. Not 
a single free child works on the estate. The overseer 
asked a woman, in our presence, to let her eldest child, 
a boy of eight years, do light work, for his clothing and 
allowance ; but she replied, " that the child was free, 
and she did not wish to bind him." The effect of the 
apprenticeship on these children is, in many respects, 
very injurious. The overseer treated us during our stay 
with great courtesy, and offered to accompany us to 
visit several neighbouring estates if our time had per- 
mitted. We returned in the afternoon. The sides of 
the mountains are devoted to coffee, which grows here 
without any protecting fence. All the original forest 
has disappeared, having been at one time cleared for 
cultivation. The estates are of great extent, and it is 
customary when the soil is worn out, or rather washed 
down by the heavy rains, to plant in new ground; as 
the steep mountain sides cannot be restored to fertility 
by tillage. The scenery of this part of the island, 

■^ In Jamaica, an overseer is the person who is called manager in the 
other islands ; and the overseers there are here called bookkeepers : an 
attorney of numerous estates, is called a planting attorney. 



148 JAMAICA. 

though often grand and beautiful, has not the freshness 
which characterises Dominica and St. Lucia. Other 
parts of Jamaica are yet uncultivated, and covered with 
primitive forest. The waste lands belong to the crown, 
but may be patented by any individual at a nominal 
rent. Many thousand acres have recently been taken 
up by various persons, which is a proof that the general 
confidence in the stability and increased value of real 
estates is not diminished by the anticipation of complete 
freedom. 

In the course of the evening, a negro came in great 
distress to the magistrate, to complain that his wife, re- 
siding in this district, had been taken to the court of a 
neighbouring magistrate. Captain Brownson, and sen- 
tenced to the tread-mill for eight days. A letter was 
given her to the Governor. Though the special m.agis- 
trates are appointed each to a particular district, yet 
their commissions extend over the whole island; and 
one who has the reputation of impartiality with the ap- 
prentices, will frequently be applied to by many not in 
his district. Such applications are frequently made to 
S. Bourne, who hears their cases, and is accustomed to 
refer them, with a recommendation, to their own magis- 
trate. A line of conduct less offensive to his colleagues 
can scarcely be conceived ; yet Captain Brownson, in a 
case of this kind, which lately occurred, sentenced four 
men to hard labour and to be flogged, whose offence was 
stated by himself in their warrant to be insubordination, 
and " applying to Mr. Bourne, instead of their own 
magistrate." In the present instance, he himself sends 
an apprentice to the tread-mill, v/ho is brought before 
him by her master out of another magistrate's jurisdic- 
tion. We subsequently took pains to learn the parti- 
culars of this case. The apprentice had obtained leave 
from her own magistrate to take a few days to arrange 
for the valuation of her daughter, who lived at a distance. 



JAMAICA. 149 

Her owner summoned her before Captain Brownson, on 
a charge of absence from work. Notwithstanding her 
explanations, and her entreaties to be allowed to pay 
back the time, or even double the time, she was sent to 
the tread-mill, though far advanced in pregnancy. After 
making attempts on two different days to tread the mill, 
it became evident that she could not continue the exer- 
tion. She earnestly requested the gaoler not to put her 
on the mill again, and for the remainder of the time 
she was sent to work with the penal gang in the field, 
chained to another woman. Being unable to keep up 
with the rest, she was locked up in a cell on her return 
from the field at night, -and the overseer threatened to 
lock her up the whole of Sunday ; but, happily, the Go- 
vernor's order for her release arrived the night before. 

26th. — We visited another coffee plantation this 
morning. The overseer appeared to be a good-tem- 
pered, frank, intelligent man, and made no complaints 
against his negroes. A Court was, however, held to 
determine a case affecting the lessee of a neighbouring 
property, which is a sad illustration of the heartlessness 
of a certain class of the colonists. A summons was 
issued requiring the defendant's presence, and warrants 
for two of his apprentices as witnesses ; but, as he sent 
a disrespectful message to the magistrate, refusing to 
attend, we had no opportunity of hearing any but the 
complainant's case, which she detailed in a long affidavit. 
It was to the effect that she had Uved with him for nine 
years, and was then discarded vrithout any provision 
being made for herself or her two children; and that 
when she went to his house to take away some of her 
property, she was repulsed and assaulted by him. Al- 
though the statement was ex parte, the principal facts 
were confirmed by other persons present. The affidavit 
related other particulars of a still darker shade, vrhich, 
as they refer to the state of things during slavery, v.e 

o 3 



150 JAMAICA. 

forbear to repeat. The overseer, at whose house we 
were staying, observed, that he had purchased the free- 
dom of his coloured children and their mother, and 
given them a home to live in. It was evident, however, 
that all his sympathies were enlisted on the side of the 
defendant, although we have no doubt he was himself 
incapable of similar conduct. He alluded to the subject 
without any apparent consciousness of immorality. It 
appears absolutely necessary, however repulsive, to 
detail some of the facts which come under our notice, 
illustrating the state of colonial morals, in order that it 
may be known what obstacles really exist to the advance- 
ment of the negroes, and how futile it would be to ex- 
pect that any good will be effected for them, through the 
agency of the generality of the present race of white 
residents. On our return to-night, as well as on the 
preceding evening, a specimen of the opposition which 
an upright magistrate encounters in the discharge of 
his duty, came under our notice. Our host received 
two letters from a neighbouring special magistrate and 
a planting attorney, both dated from the residence, and 
brought by the messenger of the latter. The purport 
of the first was to complain of Bourne's interference, 
which, as before explained, consists in patiently list- 
ening to those who bring their complaints to him, and 
referring them, with a recommendation, to the justice, 
or merciful consideration, of their proper magistrates or 
owners. It was stated, that this interference had " occa- 
sioned more punishment than the misconduct of all the 
apprentices in the district." The letter of the attorney 
was to the same effect. Besides the insight which this 
incident gives into the gloomy despotism of this odious 
system, we cannot but remark the close alliance which 
is shown to exist between some of the magistrates and 
the planters. 

28th. — We rode over to Spanish Town, which is thir- 



JAMAICA. 151 

teen miles from Kingston, and the seat of Government, 
in order to pay our respects to the Governor, Sir Lionel 
Smith, who gave us a courteous reception. The views 
he expressed during our interview were similar to those 
contained in his first speech to the Assembly and Coun- 
cil, and which appear to have characterised his whole 
course of policy since assuming the Government. He 
considered the negroes of Jamaica far more degraded 
than those of Barbadoes or the other islands. During 
his predecessor's administration, no progress had been 
made in preparing them for freedom. The time had 
been lost in "squabbling" with the planters. It was 
necessary to adopt a conciliatory policy, and to endea- 
vour to induce the proprietors to conform to the wishes 
of Government. He had already explained to some of 
them, that they could not otherwise expect that Govern- 
ment would sanction the Acts which might be neces- 
sary after 1840. Some restrictive measures, he thought, 
would be required, both to secure the prosperity of the 
planters and the welfare of the apprentices. Both here 
and in Barbadoes, he stated, that the resident large 
proprietors were humane men, and that all the op- 
pression was caused by the owners of few negroes and 
the overseers of absentees. On his arrival in the island, 
he had found one of the parishes almost in a state of 
insurrection ; he had appointed a Commission to inquire 
into the facts, and several of the overseers had been 
subsequently dismissed, and peace in consequence re- 
stored. We believe the Governor alluded to St. Thomas 
in the Vale, but he did not mention the suspension of 
Dr. Palmer. On our leaving, he obligingly referred us 
to Richard Hill, the Assistant Secretary, for any in- 
formation connected with the stipendiary magistrates' 
department. 

We became acquainted, in the course of the day, with 
J. M. Phillipo, the Baptist Missionary, resident in 



152 JAMAICA. 

Spanish Town, and with several special magistrates. An 
opportunity was unexpectedly afforded us to-day, of 
learning the further particulars of the case of a woman 
being chained to a man, by order of a special magis- 
trate, which J. Sturge had stated at a public meeting in 
England, on the authority of a private letter. The re- 
port reached Jamaica, where it was at once met by the 
newspapers with a confident denial: a convenient and 
summary mode of discrediting facts, which is much re- 
sorted to in the colonies. We learned that the woman, 
Priscilla Taylor, resided not far from the Ferry Tavern, 
a well-known half-way house between Spanish Town 
and Kingston. We therefore sent her a message to meet 
us on our return, which, as it was the Saturday, her own 
day, she was able to do. We took down her own state- 
ment of facts, which she related with simplicity and 
precision, in the presence of S. Bourne, who had been to 
Spanish Town, and accompanied us on our return. She 
appeared to be a decent, respectable woman, rather 
above her class. She said, " that B. (her master) had 
sent her to fetch a pail of water, and complained, when 
she came back, that she had been too long. In the 
evening (Friday) she was put in the dark house, where 
she stayed till Sunday afternoon. On the Monday she 
went to L. (the special magistrate) to complain, who 
said he would come next day to the property. He came, 
and sentenced her, on the complaint of her master, to 
w^ork in the field, chained to a Mongola man, named 
Joe Buckstone, who was standing by, and who had an 
iron collar round his neck, which he had had on some 
time. She was chained, in the presence of the magis- 
trate, by the overseer — the constable standing by. She 
said to L., " Don't chain me to a man, I never had a 
chain round my neck in my life." She also told him 
that she was a married woman, and could not bear to be 
chained to a man. She was suckling a young child at 



JAMAICA. 153 

the time. L. refused to listen to her. She and the man 
were ordered to the field, where she persuaded him to 
escape with her to Spanish Town. They went first to 
the Governor's house, and afterwards to C, a special 
magistrate, to whom she said, " Massa and L. two friends ; 
whatever massa tell L. he will grant him the friendship 
to do it." She begged C. to give her a paper to go into 
the workhouse; he did so, and there they unchained 
her from the man, and chained her to another woman, 
and the man to another man. She was punished two 
weeks in the workhouse at Spanish Town. B. then sent 
his overseer and the constable to fetch her home. She 
was then again chained to the man and sent to the field. 
She offered to work if the chain was taken off, but posi- 
tively refused to work chained to the man. She was 
then taken to the dark house, where she was confined 
for two weeks. During the early part of the time the 
same man was locked up with her at night, when he 
came from the field. At the end of that time she was 
again taken before L., and sent to the workhouse at Half- 
way Tree, where she worked in the penal gang for a 
month." * 

On our way home we called at Halfway Tree work- 
house, our companion being the bearer of an order from 
the Governor for the release of the poor woman, men- 
tioned a few days ago, who had been sentenced by Cap- 
tain Brownson to the tread-mill. We saw several of the 
same magistrate's commitments. In one of them part 
of the sentence was underlined, and ran thus : — " The 
twenty-five lashes not to be inflicted at present, but to 
remain suspended over his head for two months, and re- 
mitted if he behaves well during that time." We ascer- 
tained this mode of replacing the lost power of the lash in 
the hands of the planters to be quite customary with him. 

* See Appendix, Section i., page 384. 



154 JAMAICA. 

30th. — We came this evening to the Botanic Garden, 
in the St. Andrew's Mountains, where we took lodgings 
for a short time, in order that we might attend some of 
the courts of the special magistrates. Bourne and Hamil- 
ton. The garden was formed about forty years ago, in 
order to receive part of the collection of trees from the 
East Indies and South Sea Islands, brought hither by 
Captain Bligh. It is now a coffee plantation, and pri- 
vate property, having been long given up by the Legis- 
lature. There is still, however, a large collection of 
exotic trees. 

31st. — We went this morning to breakfast with Robert 
Osborn, one of the proprietors and editors of the Watch- 
man newspaper, at whose house we met his estimable 
partner, Edward Jordan. It was a high gratification to 
us to become acquainted with men who have done and 
suffered so much in the cause of freedom. The former 
accompanied us to the Halfway Tree workhouse, as the 
St. Andrew's House of Correction is called. We noticed in 
the yard, on entering, about a dozen negroes, men and 
women, standing in a line near the door, who w^ere 
heavily chained. On inquiring whether they were the 
penal gang, we were told they were apprentices from the 
estates, waiting to be tried at the Court of special 
justice Brownson this morning. It was the practice, we 
were informed, to put them in chains before trial.* In 
going over the buildings, we remarked, that the solitary 
cells are excessively close, with scarcely any ventilation ; 
and that the other rooms, though for the most part clean, 
afford very insufficient accommodation for the number 
of prisoners. There were many prisoners in the yard 
almost in a state of nudity. The supervisor (as the 
principal officer of these institutions is called in Jamaica) 
said he was out of clothing, and expecting a supply; but 

* See Appendix, Section ii,, page 385. 



JAMAICA. 155 

we attach little value to such explanations elicited by 
our inquiries or observations. One man had marks of 
blood on his shirt ; and on inquiry we found he had been 
seriously inj ured by a blow from the driver, when on the 
tread-mill. The supervisor inquired, in a very harsh 
manner, why he had not mentioned it to him, when he 
asked the prisoners if they had any complaints. We 
spoke also to another negro, who was sick from the 
effects of a severe flogging ; his back was a white mass 
of suppuration. Another pitiable object was lying 
about, whose body and limbs were swoln and ulcerated. 
He seemed a mass of disease, and was apparently 
of weak intellect. He was a watchman on Chester 
Vale estate, of which Dr. Spalding is the attorney, 
and had been sent there for suffering the cattle to 
trespass. So far from possessing activity enough to be 
a watchman, we do not think he could have walked 
across the yard. Even the supervisor said he ought not 
to have been sent. We next went to see the tread-mill. 
There were two gangs of men and women, who, we were 
told, worked alternate spells of fifteen minutes each ; an 
almost incredible amount of punishment. The men 
were put upon it during our stay ; they were in the same 
state of exposure as before noticed. The women were 
standing near them waiting their turn. No regard was 
paid to decency in providing the latter with a suitable 
dress to work on the mill. We saw, also, in the work- 
house, a young man of colour named M'Vicar, whose 
case has recently excited public attention. He is free, 
and in respectable circumstances, and was sent to the 
workhouse for twenty days, for an offence of a merely 
colourable character. The supervisor put him on the 
tread-mill, which formed no part of his sentence ; and 
which brought on a severe attack of hemorrhage. He 
appeared determined to seek redress by a suit at law. 
On looking over the visiting magistrates' journal, we ob- 



156 JAMAICA. 

served, that no complaints were made by the prisoners, 
a circumstance which it is evident does not arise from 
the non-existence of abuses. There were many com- 
plaints of the supervisor against the prisoners, and the 
written direction of the magistrate in each case was, 
" give him a few spells on the tread-mill." As no extent 
of punishment is specified, the jailer, on such authority, 
may punish the prisoners ad libitum. We were shown 
the corn meal and shads with which the prisoners are 
fed, which were of good quality. They receive one 
quart of the former, and one fish per diem. We after- 
wards heard a complaint that they were given with little 
preparation by cooking. 

After leaving the workhouse, we proceeded to the 
court-house adjacent, and attended a meeting of the 
vestry, convened to address Sir Lionel Smith, on his 
assumption of the Government. At the close of the 
meeting, the Gustos of the parish* detained the magis- 
trates present; and in a very passionate speech, laid 
before them some charges brought against him by Lord 
Sligo,who, in a despatch to Lord Glenelg, had stated some 
of the gross abuses in the Halfway Tree workhouse, and 
had implicated the Gustos as cognizant of their exist- 
ence.f Accusations of calumny and falsehood were un- 
sparingly heaped on Lord Sligo. The other magistrates 
expressed their indignation at Lord Sligo's conduct, and 
their warm sympathy with the Gustos, who, in reply? 
promised to send a triumphant refutation of the charges, 
which, he observed, affected all the magistrates of the 
parish as well as himself. 

After these proceedings were concluded, we attended 
the Gourt of the special magistrate. Several negroes 

* A parish in Jamaica, in proportion to the size of the island, is equi- 
valent to a county in England. The Custodes of the several parishes 
have corresponding duties with the Lord Lieutenants, and Chairmen of 
Quarter Sessions in the mother country. 

t See Appendix, Section ii., page 38(>. 



JAMAICA. 157 

were valued; one family of five persons for £2105* ^ 
weakly woman for £oO, and a tradesman^ on a planta- 
tion, for £122 105. The owner of this last was a local 
magistrate, who had been previously sitting at the table 
assisting in the other valuations. He enumerated all 
the good qualities of the man, his uncommon clever- 
ness in his trade, his industry and honesty ; adding, that 
he was not buying his own freedom, but that some other 
planter, who wished o secure his services, w-as going to 
advance the money for him. The present mode of valu- 
ations is a premium on worthlessness ; and the honesty 
and faithfulness of a negro are his greatest misfortunes, 
inasmuch as they frequently enhance his value beyond 
his means of purchase. After the valuations, several 
cases of complaint were disposed of by the magistrate, of 
which the most interesting was one against two negroes 
for refusing to work. They claimed to be free; and a 
man of colour, an attorney's clerk, attended as their 
advocate. They had been slaves to a Spaniard in Car- 
thagena, and had been brought from thence, many years 
ago, to Jamaica, by their master. They remained with 
him till his death, though they had never been registered 
as slaves according to law, either in 1817 or subse- 
quently. The special magistrate, who ought either to 
have declared the men free, or to have at once declined 
exercising a jurisdiction in the case, sent for two local 
magistrates to advise him as to the proper course of pro- 
ceeding. They declared without hesitation, that it had 
been decided both in the Colony and in England, that 
non-registration did not confer freedom ; and that there 
could be no doubt the men were apprentices. They 
concluded, however, that the case ought to be referred 

* Amounts, hereafter, will always be stated in Jamaica currency, of 
which live pounds or shilling; are equal to three sterling. 

t The carpenters, coopers, smiths, &c., on estates, are called 
tradesmen. 



158 



JAMAICA. 



to a superior tribunal. One of them turned to the ad- 
viser of the two negroes, and rebuked him sharply for 
his interference, accusing him of disturbing their minds 
and making them uncomfortable, as they were " per- 
fectly happy where they were, and must work some- 
where ;" it was, he said, " not doing as he would be done 
by, to interfere between a gentleman and his appren- 
tices." The individual who was thus addressed, seemed 
quite abashed, he looked confused and guilty; such is 
the force of a vicious public opinion. He stammered out 
in excuse, that he should be sorry to interfere between 
master and apprentice, but that these negroes " never 
had been even slaves in the eye of the law." There are 
a considerable number of non-registered slaves in this 
Colony, who to this day, contrary to the plain letter of 
the Abolition law, have been detained in bondage.* 

2nd Month, \st, (February.) — We went this morning, 
by invitation, to breakfast with Joseph Gordon, one of 
the large planting attorneys, and a member of Assembly. 
He afterwards showed the works and hospital on his 
estate. The latter is a large, convenient building, and 
in a favourable situation ; there were only three patients 
in it. We saw, also, a few of the negro houses, which 
were comfortable, consisting of two and sometimes three 
apartments. The best of them belonged to the hospital 
nurse and midwife, a very intelligent old woman, with 
whom we conversed for a short time. She told us 
that the number of deaths of infants was not greater 
than before 1834. There are about 140 negroes on this 
estate, and twenty-six free children. The overseer ob- 
served, that a greater insult could not be offered to a 
mother, than by asking her free child to work. He re- 
lated an instance where he had made such a proposition, 
without success ; it was evident, even from his own ac- 

* See Appendix, Section iii., page 3861. 



JAMAICA. 159 

count, that he had acted in a harsh manner, and did not 
offer money wages as an inducement. We passed twice 
to-day through the Hope estate, belonging to the Duke 
of Buckingham, where we saw three white emigrants 
ploughing in the same field, in which a gang of negroes 
were at work with the hoe. About fifty Europeans have 
been brought out to this estate, Under an agreement 
which entails an enormous annual expense on its pro- 
prietor. No preparation was in the first instance made 
for their reception, and the hardships they endured, and 
their own intemperate habits, carried many of them off. 
Those who remain are more comfortably circumstanced, 
and a few of them work steadily, but in this climate one 
negro is worth two or three Europeans. 

2nd. — We attended a Court held by two special 
magistrates. Bourne and Hamilton, on a large coffee 
plantation in St. Andrew's, called Dublin Castle, the 
property of Alderman Atkins. Many of the complaints 
brought by the overseer against the people were ad- 
judged frivolous, and were dismissed. One was against 
four women in a late stage of pregnancy, for the loss of 
a few minutes in coming late to work, and for insolence. 
The overseer's own witnesses proved that he had be- 
haved towards them with great harshness and ill-temper ; 
and also that the women picked as much coffee as used 
to be exacted from them during slavery. The attorney 
for the estate, who was present, did not agree with the 
magistrates in their notions of government : he said, in 
reference to the case of a man who had been punished 
by, a fine of time, that negroes could not be managed 
without being occasionally flogged. He made heavy 
complaints against the people for idleness and general 
insubordination, and said they did not even cultivate 
their own grounds. A warm altercation occurred be- 
tween him and one of the magistrates, (Bourne,) the 
former declaring that these negroes were a quiet, orderly 



160 JAMAICA, 

set of people before the latter came into the district ; to 
which the magistrate replied, by stating, that forty-oine 
cases were brought before him and Dr. Palmer, on the 
very first occasion of his holding a Court on the property. 
Before leaving the estate we w^ere permitted to inspect 
the hospital, which is a sufficiently good building, but 
was in a most filthy condition. 

3rd. — We accompanied the same magistrates to Craig- 
hill, a small coffee plantation, with fewer than forty ap- 
prentices; and one, therefore, which they are not re- 
quired by law to visit. It is on the boundary of their 
respective districts, and so many complaints had been 
made by the apprentices, to each of the magistrates, 
that they concluded to visit it, and hold a joint Court. 
Nearly the whole of the negroes on the property attended 
the Court, being concerned either as defendants, com- 
plainants, or witnesses. The first case was a charge 
made by the overseer against an apprentice, for stealing 
provisions. The offence was proved and punished. 
Next, an old woman complained against one of her 
sons, that he had sold his provision ground, in which 
she asserted a joint property. She was an African, and 
spoke very unintelligibly, but was eloquent in gesture 
and animation. She had had eight children, of whom, 
she said, "the best had gone before;" and those who 
were left, neglected and ill treated her. Her son's of- 
fence was not, however, cognisable by the Court. He 
in his turn complained that he had been compelled to 
sell his ground to another apprentice, in order to buy 
medicines and applications for an ulcerated foot. It 
appeared in evidence, that there was no hospital and 
no medical attendant for the estate. Another case of 
similar neglect was brought forward and fully substan- 
tiated against the estate, which was fined five pounds. 
The next case was the complaint of an apprentice 
against the overseer for locking her up for eighteen 



JAMAICA. 161 

hours without food or water, and sending his children 
(two little coloured boys, of the ages of twelve and five 
years) to call her obscene names. Her statement was 
distinct and circumstantial, and was confirmed by the 
constable or head driver, by her husband, and several 
other witnesses. The overseer acknowledged all the 
charges, and rested his defence on provocation and abu- 
sive language received first from the complainant. He 
failed, however, in the proof of his assertions, and was 
fined five pounds. He remonstrated against the highest 
penalty of the law being enforced against him ; and said, 
that the whole gang were idle, worthless, and vagabond; 
that they were bought out of the workhouse (as convict 
slaves) for "an old song." He charged the witnesses 
with misrepresenting facts, and forgetting what would 
have made in his favour. The people warmly denied 
his imputation, and their conduct appeared to us to be 
marked by intelhgence, consistency, and regard for 
truth. The above cases occupied so much time, that 
many other complaints of assault and ill treatment, of a 
similar character, were deferred to another occasion. 
The negroes on this property were, many of them, 
almost in a state of nudity. One boy, whom we asked, 
said he had been sent to the tread-mill at Half-way- 
Tree, for seven days, about three weeks ago, and that 
his clothes had been flogged to pieces there. His chest 
was sore from rubbing against the mill, and he is still 
scarcely able to walk from the effects of an injury in the 
knee, inflicted by the revolving wheel, when he lost the 
step. He declared that both men and women were 
flogged on the tread-mill, the former with a cat, but the 
women with a strap. We fear that the proceedings 
detailed above are an example of the condition of the 
apprentices on many of the smaller properties. It is 
impossible for us to express the feelings of disgust which 
these scenes conveyed to our minds. 

P 3 



162 JAMAICA. 

During a short visit which we paid in the evening to 
S. Bourne, a man came from Constitution-hill, a coffee 
estate, to complain that his master had shot one of his 
fowls which had a brood of chickens. He brought some 
of them dead in his basket. This is a species of perse- 
cution against which the apprentice has no protection. 

4th. — Yesterday and to-day we have had striking 
proofs, from our own observation, of the industry of 
the negroes when working under a proper stimulus. 
As we went to our lodgings, which are nine miles from 
town, late in the evening, we met several parties of two 
or three men, women, and even children, coming down 
from the mountains with heavy loads of produce on 
their heads, from their own grounds for the Kingston 
market. Some of them had mules loaded, besides the 
burdens they carried themselves. We could hear other 
distant parties in the mountain passes and defiles, sing- 
ing cheerful songs to beguile the tediousness of the 
way. Many come a distance of twenty, or even thirty 
miles, and pass the night in the open air on the road. 
English carrots, cabbages, and artichokes, besides yams, 
and other roots and fruits of the country, were among 
their supplies. 

5th. — The Sabbath. — We were kept close prisoners 
during the early part of the day by the rain. About one 
o'clock we were able to walk out, and paid a visit to the 
negro village in the Botanic Garden. The negroes ge- 
nerally observe the Sabbath very strictly, so far as absti- 
nence from work is concerned. In one house, however, 
we found them employed in shelling a quantity of palma 
christi seeds, preparatory to bruising and boiling them, 
in order to obtain the castor oil. Near one of the cot- 
tages was a little wooden frame, in which were set two 
small rollers for pressing canes, of which a few were culti- 
vated by the negroes for their own consumption. There 
is little division of labour in a slave country ; which is 



JAMAICA. 163 

one means by which slaves, in every department, are so 
much excelled by free labourers. The negroes construct 
their own houses, make their own clothes, cultivate their 
provisions with their own hands ; they use oil of their 
own pressing for their lamps, and wicks prepared from 
cotton growing at their own doors. We inquired of two 
apprentices in one of the huts if 'they were married. 
They were not, though they had lived three years to- 
gether, and appeared sensible that they ought to be. 
This extensive parish, though it is one of the longest 
settled in the island, is nearly destitute of opportunities 
of religious improvement. S. Bourne, who resides near 
the Botanic Garden, has a Sunday-school at his house, 
which we visited ; it was attended by ten men, who were 
learning to read and write, and several boys in an alpha- 
bet class. One of the former was the head man on a neigh- 
bouring large estate. He was asked why so few children 
now attended the Sabbath^school from that property, 
and replied, that the attorney disturbed and unsettled 
the people, or, to use his own phrase, " made their 
minds chatter." He said, that many of the orange and 
mango trees growing on the property had been cut 
down, in order to deprive the apprentices of the fruit. 
One of the boys present was the son of an overseer, who 
had gone to reside on another estate, and left him 
without any provision, and in bondage. The child was 
purchased and made free, and is now supported by his 
maternal uncle, who was present in the other class, and 
who is still himself an apprentice. Many of these calum- 
niated people show themselves superior in moral worth 
to their haughty taskmasters. 

6th. — We accompanied S. Bourne to visit several 
estates. Our route was entirely by mountain paths ; and 
it would be impossible to do justice to the picturesque 
grandeur of the scenery. The hills abound with torrents 
and springs, and the vegetation, therefore, is very luxu- 



164 



JAMAICA. 



riant. Sometimes we caught a distant glimpse of the 
sea. We crossed, on our journey, a lofty ridge, running 
directly across an immense valley. The path was so 
narrow as not to admit of two riding abreast. We break- 
fasted at the house of an old gentleman of the name of 
Wiles, who was the botanist on Captain Bligh's expe- 
dition, and came with him to Jamaica, forty-four years 
ago. He was induced to remain by the Assembly, and 
to undertake the superintendence of the Botanic Garden, 
formed for the reception of the plants which they had 
brought. For many years past he has been a coffee 
planter, and though now upwards of seventy years old, 
is in full possession of the powers of an intelligent and 
well- stored mind. He told us, that the bread-fruit tree 
has not succeeded so well as had been anticipated. It 
thrives in moist situations, but never reaches the lux- 
uriant growth of its native climate. The most valuable 
tree, he said, which has been introduced into Jamaica, 
in recent times, is the mango ; a few plants of which 
were taken out of a French prize, captured about half a 
century ago by Lord Rodney. It has spread with great 
rapidity, and is now found in every part of the island; 
the fruit, which it produces in very great abundance, 
forms a dessert for the whites and food for the negroes, 
as well as for cattle, horses, and hogs. Our host had no 
complaints against his apprentices. We next visited a 
small estate, on which there were about fifty apprentices, 
under the care of an overseer, who was himself a negro, 
and had formerly been a slave. He also governed the 
people with little aid from the magistrate. They had, 
however, their troubles, the estate being partly under the 
superintendence of a white overseer, on a neighbouring 
plantation. One of the apprentices, with an infant in 
arms, complained to the magistrate of a brutal assault 
committed on herself and child, by this man. The par- 
ticulars are too gross for publication. Her child was 



JAMAICA. 165 

evidently much injured by it. He was fined £5. In 
the hospital there was a negro, who had been sent about 
a month ago to the tread-mill, from the effects of 
which he is not yet sufficiently recovered to be able to 
work. The overseer told us, that he held him up as a 
warning to the other people, of what they might expect 
if they were sent to the workhouse for punishment. The 
negroes on this property were a fine interesting set of 
people ; they complained, of their own accord, of one of 
their number, for not cultivating her grounds. She was 
admonished and threatened. They had, on a former 
occasion, expressed a desire to have their children in- 
structed, and were now asked by the magistrate if they 
were still in the same mind ; they answered unanimously 
in the affirmative; adding, that they wished, also, to 
learn themselves. He accordingly held out to them 
some expectation that he would endeavour to establish 
a school either on the estate or in the neighbourhood. 
From hence, calling at another estate in our way, we 
proceeded to the residence of Hinton East, who had 
kindly engaged us to dine with him. His house is situ- 
ated on the summit of a hill, with a climate ranging 
from 64° to 78° of Fahrenheit. It is tempered by con- 
stant sea and land breezes. Captain East and his lady 
are surrounded by a young and interesting family. Their 
experience, during the few years they have resided here, 
is in favour of the salubrity of the climate of the moun- 
tains. 

7th. — We came to Spanish Town this morning. The 
road from Kingston to the capital crosses an immense 
fresh-water swamp, into which one or two considerable 
streams empty their waters, and which extends for several 
miles to the sea. It abounds with rare specimens of 
aquatic plants, insects, and birds, and with eels, fresh- 
water turtle, &c. The road through it, which has been 
constructed at great expense, is liable to be frequently 



166 JAMAICA. 

overflowed. The mephitic exhalations from the marsh 
are painfully obvious to the senses of the traveller, who 
is unavoidably compelled to cross it after sunset, or be- 
fore sunrise. In any other than a slave country it would 
long ago have been drained, and would now be teeming 
with exhaustless supplies of agricultural wealth. The 
capital is situated on the Rio Cobre, about seven miles 
from the sea, in a narrow plain, which extends, in a 
curved direction, as far as Kingston on one side, and on 
the other a considerable distance into the interior of the 
island. This land is occupied by a few sugar estates, 
and pens or farms for raising cattle ; but the greater 
part has been abandoned, and is now overgrown with 
brushwood, and the logwood and acacia trees. As its 
climate is uncertain, and subject to frequent and severe 
droughts, the apprentices do not cultivate provision 
grounds, neither have they any allowances of food from 
their owners ; they support themselves by cutting grass 
and firewood for the supply of the inhabitants of Spanish 
Town. They are sometimes reduced to extreme distress, 
when their time has been forfeited by sentence of the 
magistrate ; and as they can neither collect their bundles 
of stick and grass from the property of their masters 
without permission, nor take them to market for sale 
without a written pass, they are as completely under 
irresponsible control as ever they were during slavery. 

In the course of the morning, we visited the metro- 
politan girls' school, under the care of J. M. Phillipo, 
which is supported chiefly at the expense of a society of 
ladies in England. There were ninety children pre- 
sent, many of whom were the coloured offspring of over- 
seers. There were at one time in this school four or five 
children of a late Governor, the Duke of Manchester : 
and one of its present teachers is the daughter of the 
Duke's celebrated secretary Bullock. Her freedom was 
purchased some years ago, by the English patronesses of 



JAMAICA. 167 

the school. The dreadful state of social disorganisation 
in Jamaica is legibly written even on the surface of so- 
ciety. Its " bad eminence," is, doubtless, to be attri- 
buted, in part, to the corrupting influence of the long 
administration of the above-mentioned Governor. The 
matron of the school showed us some nice specimens of 
plain and ornamental needlework. We also heard se- 
veral classes read, and examined them in spelling and 
arithmetic. The children were neatly dressed and very 
clean. Many of them are apprentices, of whom four- 
teen coloured girls are sent by their attorney from a 
single estate in the neighbourhood. They are intended 
to become teachers of estates' schools. There are five 
young women employed as teachers, two of whom con- 
duct the school, and the others are qualifying themselves 
to fill the same station elsewhere. Several of them 
manifest great energy and ability, and their system of 
management is well adapted to insure order and con- 
stant attention. At the word of command, the girls per- 
form various mechanical exercises with their hands ; and 
rise, turn, and resume their seats, or form classes, with 
instantaneous promptitude. J. M. Phillipo told us, that 
on the first establishment of the school, he had thought 
it impossible to conduct it without an European teacher; 
but that some of the coloured teachers have proved 
themselves as useful and efficient as an European could 
be expected to be. The principal teacher, a coloured 
young woman, was purchased and made free by an old 
negro, her grandfather, who is still himself an appren- 
tice. She did not know a letter at fourteen years of 
age. Besides the large number of children who receive 
in this school a scriptural education, we cannot but re- 
gard it as a valuable institution for qualifying teachers. 
It is worthy of even a more liberal support than it 
already receives ; as the young persons who are at pre- 
sent training to conduct schools are allowed only a 



168 JAMAICA. 

dollar a week for their maintenance, which is less than 
they could earn by needle-work and other employments. 
We had not time to visit the metropolitan boys' school, 
held in an adjoining room. It is on the same footing as 
the girls', except that it is dependent on casual funds, 
and thus entails a heavy burden and responsibility on 
the missionary, and is more limited in its usefulness as 
a normal school. 

We attended in the course of the day a sitting of the 
House of Assembly, which has been summoned at this 
unusual period of the year, for a short session, to dispose 
of a great arrear of business, occasioned by the recent 
introduction of many new laws. It was occupied to-day 
with a bill to regulate the medical faculty and register 
diplomas, which was warmly opposed by two of the 
members who belonged to that profession. 

We were introduced to Alexandre Bravo, one of the 
most extensive resident proprietors in the island, and a 
Gustos and member of Assembly. He is esteemed 
liberal and humane ; and in conversation with us ex- 
pressed the most enlightened views of political economy. 
He ridiculed the idea of independent cultivation, and 
the fears that are commonly expressed, that the people 
will refuse, when free, to labour " continuously" for 
wages. He finds no difficulty in purchasing all the 
labour that his own people have to sell, besides the 
spare time of many from adjoining estates. He con- 
siders slave labour, of all others, the most un-economical 
and expensive; and is persuaded, that twenty free men 
are equal to one hundred slaves. Under a slave system, 
too, agricultural operations must be carried on with im- 
mense masses of men, which he believes would not be 
required, even in West India cultivation, were it placed 
on a proper footing. 

8th. — We visited to-day several estates, called the 
Caymanas, accompanied by G. O. Higgins, special ma- 



JAMAICA. 169 

gistrate, the Attorney General, and Joseph Gordon. 
The first of them, ElHs's, is the property of Lord 
Seaford, and under the attorneyship of the last-named 
gentleman. The number of negroes is 135, besides the 
free children, who receive the same attention as during 
slavery. The manager, who has introduced task- work 
to a considerable extent, assured us,' that the cultivation 
of the estate was kept up as effectively as at any former 
period. Complaints are rarely brought before the ma- 
gistrate. We saw the hospital, in which were twelve 
slight cases : it was a good building, but very dirty. We 
passed, also, through the negro village. As the people 
were at work, most of the houses were locked; such as 
we entered were comfortable, clean, and furnished. 
The village is situated in a grove of cocoa-nut trees, 
which belong to the negroes, who are dependent, in 
part, for their subsistence, on the sale of the fruit in 
Spanish Town and Kingston markets. On this estate, 
as well as on several others which we have visited, an 
attempt has been made to establish a school, but without 
success. The adjoining estate, Taylor's Caymanas, is a 
still finer property, and belongs to James Ewing, of 
Glasgow. The resident attorney is arbitrary in his 
ideas of government, and finds ample employment for 
the special magistrate. The third Caymanas, Dawkins', 
is also a fine estate, under the attorneyship of T. J. 
Bernard. Like Ellis's, it is managed almost without 
the interference of the stipendiary. Task-work, also, has 
been introduced on it, by an arrangement with the 
apprentices. We inquired of the overseer, why he did 
not give the negroes their task-work by the week, so 
that they might save one or two whole days? He re- 
plied, that in that case they would over work themselves. 
We were shown a statement of wages paid for extra 
labour during crop, which amounted to £109 for the 

Q 



170 JAMAICA. 

season, or ten shillings a hogshead, which, when dis- 
tributed, would be one shilling for not less than two and 
a half days of severe extra labour per week, a remunera- 
tion so trifling as to prove (if the arrangement is not 
compulsory) how easily the apprentices are satisfied. 
We drove from hence to the Farm, a pen or cattle 
estate, belonging to Lord Carrington, and under the 
attorneyship of Joseph Gordon. The hospital is a large, 
well ventilated building. Every hospital is furnished 
with that relic of former times, the stocks. The negro 
village of the Farm is probably one of the best in the 
island. The houses are scattered over a considerable 
extent of ground, in groups of two or three, in separate 
neat inclosures. It is embosomed in a grove of cocoa- 
nut trees, on which the negroes are in part dependent 
for the means of support. Many of the cottages consist 
of two or three good rooms, in which are a little furni- 
ture, and in a few instances glasses and earthenware. 
They v^ere remarkably clean, and the courts carefully 
swept. We were introduced to Whitehall Ellis, the 
head negro, an intelligent man, who is still as active 
and as lively as a boy, though nearly seventy years of 
age. He has a numerous family of descendants, and is 
a man of considerable property, being possessed of a 
light taxed cart, and a number of cattle and sheep. He 
owned, before the 1st of August, nine slaves, twenty 
head of cattle, and seventy sheep, but, like other pros- 
perous men, he has experienced occasional reverses. 
His speculations in slaves did not turn out well; he 
gave us a most amusing account of one of them, who 
stole some of his cattle, and sold them for himself in 
Kingston market, and then, pretending they were lost, 
almost killed his master by leading him a wild-goose 
chase in search of them, among the swamps and woods. 
As he, being himself a slave, could not hold slaves in 



Jamaica. 171 

his own right, he was likely also to lose the Compensa- 
tion, through the faithlessness of the friend in whose 
name they had been registered. Ellis invited us to his 
house, which is a large, comfortable, and furnished cot- 
tage, with jalousies in the casements. He produced a 
bottle of madeira, and wine glasses ; and, by so doing, 
according to West India notions, refuted the thousand- 
and-one statements of the Anti-slavery Society, of the 
physical sufferings of slaves ! Among the negro houses 
there is a small chapel, in which one of the apprentices 
occasionally preaches. The attorney asked the people 
whether they would send their children to school if he 
provided a teacher. They professed great anxiety to 
avail themselves of his offer. As we were leaving, a 
woman came forward to petition for assistance towards 
rebuilding or repairing her cottage. She manifested 
much distress. Old Ellis rebuked her sharply ; " Did 
she wish to bring massa's property into disgrace before 
the gentlemen ? Where were her manners ? " &c. The 
negroes on this estate are a fine, muscular race of 
people, and both their appearance and that of their 
dwellings was one of comfort. It may be thought that 
they demonstrated the compatibility of slavery v^ith 
happiness, but it must be borne in mind, that their 
privileges depended on the double accident of their 
belonging to a wealthy and humane proprietor, and 
being under the government of kind overseers. Many 
of the negroes on Farm are active, intelligent, and en- 
terprising. Why should such men be prevented from 
having free scope to increase their own wealth and that 
of the community? On the other hand, so far from 
complete Emancipation being injurious to such estates 
as these, the people, when free, will be too unwilling to 
leave their cottages, and gardens, and fruit trees, the 
heir-looms handed down to them from their ancestors, 
to be likely to forsake the estates. Humane propri- 



172 JAMAICA. 

etors will have every advantage in procuring the labour 
of their free peasantry on the most advantageous terms. 

9th. — The Rector of Spanish Town kindly accom- 
panied us to the schools under the care of the establish- 
ment. Of these there are three under one master and 
mistress, held in the same building. Two, Beckford's 
and Smith's, are charitable foundations, with conside- 
rable funds; and the third is a school of industry, so 
named in consequence of an intention which has never 
been carried into effect, of associating some manual 
occupation with learning. The two former consist of 
thirty children each, and the latter of sixty. The chil- 
dren were principally coloured, and apparently not of 
the lowest grade of society. We examined all but the 
alphabet class, which is a very numerous one. The 
proficiency of the children is below the average, except 
in writing, in which they excelled. 

We had the pleasure of making the acquaintance 
of Charles Harvey, of Spanish Town, one of the few 
members of the legal profession who will undertake the 
cause of oppressed negroes. He has largely sacrificed 
his interests at the shrine of principle. 

We again attended a sitting of the House of Assem- 
bly, and heard during the debate one of those violent 
attacks on Lord Sligo, in which certain members of this 
notorious House are accustomed to indulge. The 
Marquis was described as the calamity of Jamaica, and 
threatened with impeachment. One of the members 
told us, that the annual mihtia bill was about to be 
introduced, which he intended to oppose, though in a 
House composed of colonels and generals, he feared with 
little chance of success. The militia, he observed, was 
formerly necessary on account of the insecurity of slave 
property; now, it is not only useless, but burdensome, 
and discourages persons from settling in the colonies. 
Throughout the islands, every free man of suitable age, 



JAMAICA. 173 

is compelled to serve in this mock military force, except 
that a property qualification has been recently intro- 
duced to exclude the emancipated classes. 

In the evening, we proceeded some distance into the 
interior. At the Rectory Tavern, in St. Thomas in the 
Vale, where we stayed for the night, we unexpectedly met 
R. S. Cooper, S. M., to whom we hgid an introduction. 
He had just received a challenge to fight a duel from a 
planter in the district, because he had yesterday refused 
to punish an apprentice, whom the former accused of 
striking his child, a charge which was not sustained by 
the evidence. We subsequently learned, that this case 
was afterwards taken before local magistrates, who sen- 
tenced the woman for a month to the House of Correc- 
tion. It is therefore a double illustration of the degree 
of respect paid to the special magistrates, and of the 
facility with which the law is evaded. 

11th. — Early this morning we drove over to Jericho, 
the residence of John Clarke, one of the Baptist Mis- 
sionaries. He was absent from home, but we were 
kindly invited by his wife to stay breakfast, Before we 
left, several apprentices called to be examined by the 
minister as candidates for baptism. From their answers 
to our inquiries, it appeared, that the authority of the 
stipendiary is employed to enforce a compulsory arrange- 
ment for extra labour during crop. Many of the negroes 
are compelled to work by spells of eight hours in the 
field one day, and sixteen hours in and about the boiling 
house the next day, giving up their half Friday, for which 
amount of extra labour they receive an amount equal 
to two shillings and one penny per week. Soon after 
the commencement of the apprenticeship, four negroes, 
on the principal estate in this parish, were flogged because 
they refused to assent to this arrangement. Though 
they now submit to it quietly, the apprentices are not 
consenting parties ; it is only agreed upon between the 

q3 



174 



JAMAICA. 



overseer and the magistrate. These people complained, 
also, that the special magistrate, Captain Reynolds, 
would never hear what they had to say in their own 
defence, when brought before him. We next visited 
Rodney Hall workhouse, in which we found but two or 
three prisoners, besides life convicts. The penal gang 
was at work in the neighbourhood, and consisted chiefly 
of the latter, who were chained two and two. Most of 
them had been condemned under the old slave laws, as 
incorrigible runaways. In looking cursorily over the 
workhouse, the only observations of importance that 
we made were, that the insecure state of the building 
rendered it necessary to fasten the legs of the prisoners 
to an iron staple at night, on the inclined board on 
which they slept. Two being chained together, and 
the leg of one of them secured to the staple. The tread- 
mill, also, is a machine of dreadful construction. It is so 
great a height from the ground, that the prisoners ascend 
a rude ladder to a sort of platform, from which they 
step on the mill. They are then strapped to the beam 
above the mill, and the platform is removed. If they 
are unable to keep the step, they hang by the wrists, 
and are liable to sustain the most serious injuries from 
the mill revolving against their breasts and legs. There 
was no machinery to regulate its speed. The supervisor 
acknowledged that it was so severe a punishment, that 
it could not safely be inflicted more than two or three 
times a day. The prisoners are usually put upon it 
morning and evening, for fifteen minutes each time. 
During our stay two special magistrates, Reynolds and 
Cooper, arrived to hold a court for disposing of some 
valuations. We took the opportunity of inquiring re- 
specting the rate paid for extra labour during crop. 
They both confirmed the statements we had heard in 
the morning, of the amount of time required from the 
apprentices. One of them said it was a work of neces- 



JAMAICA. 175 

sity, and in reply to our iniquiry how the people were 
paid, said, the amount was very low, but that the negroes 
appeared satisfied with it. The other contrasted the 
remuneration which the apprentices received during 
crop, with the extravagant price at which their labour 
was rated when they came to purchase their freedom. 
The time was so far spent in waiting for two local ma- 
gistrates, that we could only stay to witness one valua- 
tion, that of a predial apprentice. His master and mis- 
tress, persons of colour, were very angry with him for 
wishing to be valued, and even used insulting language 
to the special magistrate ; but amidst all their wrath 
did not forget to insist on the man's honesty and indus- 
try. The special and local magistrates could not agree ; 
the latter rating him at two shillings and sixpence per 
day, and justifying their exorbitant valuation on the plea, 
that a labourer could not he replaced. 

12th. — We went this morning to a church in King- 
ston, the minister of which is one of the most popular 
clergymen in the island. It was quite full, and we were 
pleased to observe, that there appeared to be no distinc- 
tion of complexion observed in the arrangement of the 
seats. 

15th. — We visited the Central Mico Schools. In the 
infant school, there were about 150 children, from two 
to seven years of age ; they were nearly all black ; the 
only w^hite child being the son of a clergyman. They 
were in excellent order, and many of them showed great 
quickness and intelligence, especially in asking and 
answering questions on Scripture narratives, recited to 
them by their teacher. In each of the other schools for 
older boys and girls, there were from 80 to 1 00 children. 
We examined most of the classes in the former, and 
found their proficiency such as did them great credit. 
Several of the monitors displayed great energy and 
talent, particularly a negro youth of fifteen or sixteen 



176 JAMAICA. 

years of age, whom J. M. Trew, the agent of the Mico 
Trustees, is about to take with him to Trinidad, to assist 
in organising the schools there. The copy books were 
as usual, well written, and kept very clean. In the girls' 
school, besides going cursorily over the classes, we were 
showed some specimens of needlework, which appeared 
to be very nicely executed. The Mico agents have 
already between three and four thousand children under 
their care, in different parts of the island, and the attend- 
ance at their schools is increasing. They have adopted 
the weekly pay system with success. They could not 
probably contribute more to the cause in which they are 
embarked, than by rendering their central establishment 
a series of model schools as perfect as possible, for the 
training of teachers. 

16th. — We attended to-day the Assize Court at 
Spanish Town, and heard part of the proceedings in the 
case of Maclean v. Bourne. This is one of those actions 
pending against special magistrates, of which the public 
has recently heard so much. Its progress affords a most 
unfavourable comment, not only on the feelings of the 
planters, but on the character of the Courts of Law, and 
the injudicious conduct of the home Government. 

We afterwards visited the workhouse and jail, accom- 
panied by Major Wilkie, the Custos of the parish. In 
the workhouse, the apartments are clean and well venti- 
lated. The tread-mill appeared to be of the same con- 
struction as is usual in England, but there was no ma- 
chinery to regulate its speed, which would therefore be 
slow or rapid, according to the number of prisoners upon 
it. The food of the prisoners is the same in quality as 
at Halfway Tree. There were several white prisoners, 
who, the Custos observed, are kept quite distinct from 
the rest. They have a separate sleeping room, and are 
never chained or sent out with the penal gang to work 
in the streets. The latter have iron collars on their 



JA3IAICA. 



177 



necks, and work chained in pairs, two men or two 
women. The premises forming the county jail, which 
we next visited, are divided by a wall ; one side being 
occupied by debtors, and the other by criminals. The 
accommodations for the debtors are good, and a great 
contrast to the crowded, confined, miserable apartments 
and cells allotted to the prisoners. In the yard were 
many prisoners, tried and untried, each with a heavy 
iron bolt attached to one of his legs, which in walking 
he was compelled to lift up, by a string held in the 
hand. There was but one white prisoner, who had been 
tried for the deliberate murder of his wife, a coloured 
woman, and to the great surprise of the court and the 
public, found guilty only of manslaughter. He was sen- 
tenced to three years' imprisonment, the extreme punish- 
ment of the island law for that offence. He was living 
in a light and spacious upstairs room, unshackled by 
chains or iron collar, and enjoying the range of a gallery 
to walk in. Little precaution was taken to insure his 
security, but the few inconveniences to which he was 
subjected, left him but little motive for attempting to 
escape. At the end of the gallery, in which this indi- 
^ddual is domiciled, a permanent gallows has been 
erected, since Lord Sligo's departure, in front of the 
market-place. This is justly reprobated by many as a 
brutal and disgraceful exhibition. It is intended to 
strike terror into the minds of the lower orders, and is a 
singular exemplification of the prevailing notions respect- 
ing punishments and prison discipline. 

We attended, for a short time, the sitting of the House 
of Assembly. A bill w^as announced to regulate the 
classification of the apprentices. The plan, which is 
likely to be adopted, is that of associating two magis- 
trates nominated by the master with the special magis- 
trate of the district, to adjudicate all doubtful cases. 
The rights of the apprentices, in that case, will be 



178 JAMAICA. 

treated with as little ceremony as they are before a 
similar tribunal in valuations. We were introduced in 
the course of the day to S. M. Barrett, a member of 
council, w^ho kindly invited us to visit his estates. 

17th. — We accepted to-day a polite invitation of Alex- 
andre Bravo, to visit two of his estates, about ten miles 
from Spanish Town. Our route was through a district 
of level country, which was for the most part abandoned 
to trees and brushwood. It had formerly, we were told, 
been occupied by fine cattle estates, from whence the 
slaves had been removed, to cultivate sugar in the more 
mountainous parishes, which have a more fertile soil and 
moister climate. On the first estate which we visited, 
our host is erecting one of the most handsome and sub- 
stantial mansions in the island. It is beautifully situ- 
ated on a gentle acclivity, commanding a view of the 
sea, from which it is distant three or four miles. It is 
built by the labour of his own apprentices, with materials 
supplied from his different estates. The work would do 
credit to English artificers. We could not but regard it 
as a monument of the confidence of a liberal and en- 
lightened proprietor, in the permanent prosperity of the 
country under a free system. On these estates the most 
judicious means have been adopted, to habituate the 
people to work cheerfully for wages, and we are assured 
with complete success. The proprietor has introduced 
task-w^ork and remuneration, and has recently substituted 
money payments, on a liberal scale, in lieu of all allow- 
ances of clothing, salt fish, sugar, rum, &c. ; and in 
order to accustom his people to spend money, as well as 
earn it, he has established a shop on one or more of his 
estates. Many of his principal negroes receive salaries, 
varying from £5 to £16 per annum, besides liberal 
wages for their extra time, their house and grounds rent 
free, and the pasturage of a few hogs, cattle, or horses. 
We were requested to make our own inquiries of the 



JAMAICA. 179 

negroes, and accordingly entered into conversation with 
a number of them. One complained of the discontinu- 
ance of their allowances of salt fish, 8cc. since Christmas. 
He was reckoning up, in the most perspicuous way, the 
value of each, according to the quantity allowed, when 
his master came in and listened very patiently to his 
charges, and then replied, by showiiig that the money 
which he gave them was a full equivalent for those in- 
dulgences. A discussion of several other minor points 
followed, which terminated in the same manner. The 
principal orator, on the part of the negroes, certainly 
exhibited an ingenious display of special pleading ; but 
it was really pleasant to see the independent and free 
spirit of the people, and the good feeling subsisting be- 
tween them and their master: which, so far as our ob- 
servation extends, is a rare exception to the general rule. 
The latter related to us several anecdotes of similar dis- 
putes with his people, and said it was a mistake to sup- 
pose that the negro was not a reasonable being. On 
our retura to town we called at the Whim sugar estate, 
on which there are 230 apprentices. Its average pro- 
duction is 130 hogsheads, but during the last two years, 
it has reached 200 hogsheads per annum. The attorney, 
who is esteemed a good agriculturist, attributes the large 
crops to favourable seasons, though he acknowledged, 
also, that the cultivation was kept up as efficiently as 
during slavery. He complained, however, that the people 
neglected their own grounds, and refused to work for 
wages in their extra time. He adheres to the eight- 
hour system, a circumstance which is sufficient to ac- 
count for a large amount of disaffection. On our way 
home, we passed through Bushy Park estate, one of the 
largest and most populous in the island. We have been 
favoured by the overseer of Bushy Park, with a table of 
births and deaths on that estate, from which it appears, 
that the former, since 1834, have been fortv-seven, and 



180 JAMAICA. 

the latter eleven, from which it may be inferred, that 
the infants and pregnant women, and nursing mothers, 
have received the same indulgences as during slavery, 
which, we are sorry to say, is not generally the case. 

19th. — The Sabbath. — We attended this morning the 
various services at the station of the Baptist mission in 
Spanish Town. The first of these was a prayer meeting, 
held very early in the moining, attended by about 600 
persons. At nine o'clock we visited the Sunday-schools, 
in which were about 100 children, chiefly in the alphabet 
class, who have no other means of instruction. At eleven 
the morning service commenced. The meeting-house, 
which holds about 1500, was densely crowded, chiefly 
by apprentices from the surrounding estates, who ^vere 
very attentive and decorous in their deportment. At the 
conclusion, the minister married a young couple, w^ho 
were apprentices on an estate some miles distant. The 
formula was that of the church of England abbreviated, 
to which was added a suitable exhortation and prayer. 
J. M. Phillipo has married about 300 of the apprentices 
within the last twelve months. 

We were introduced afterwards to a number of the 
deacons and leaders of the church, who were assembled 
in a room adjoining the chapel. Some of them were 
free, but others were apprentices from the estates; many 
of them fully equal in intelligence and information to 
English peasantry, of some of the agricultural districts. 
We inquired of them respecting the apprenticeship. 
One of them stood up and said that he was a constable, 
and that he found it very difficult to act according 
to his oath, as he was expected to do all for his master 
and nothing for the people, whereas he was frequently 
obliged to remonstrate with his overseer about the op- 
pressions which he practised; that the apprentices now 
receive none of their former allowances of salt fish, and 
only half their former quantity of clothing. It was very 



JAMAICA. 181 

hard for them to subsist, as their grounds were often 
burned up by drought; and that the overseer took their 
own time from them whenever he wanted it, and it was 
often a hard thing to get him to repay it. On our 
asking whether the people would be willing to work 
after 1840, he said, " Nothing was sweeter than for a 
man to labour for his own bread ; " a sentiment to which 
all present responded. They told us that many had 
been flogged, or sent to the tread-mill, who had never 
been punished during slavery. Two of the individuals 
present had been sent to the tread-mill, and sustained se- 
vere injury from its effects. The offences were merely 
nominal, and we were assured their characters were 
without reproach. Another poor woman present, who 
was the mother of eight children, and in declining years 
and health, had been sent to the tread-mill because she 
could not work in the first gang, after having lived, 
during the last years of slavery, a life of comparative 
ease and indulgence. The overseer had also pulled 
down her house, which was the best on the estate. All 
the apprentices complained that the magistrates did not 
give them a fair opportunity of speaking in their own 
behalf. 

After this conference was concluded, we had an op- 
portunity of witnessing the examination to which the 
candidates for baptism are subjected. A poor old 
woman was the first examined. She was closely ques- 
tioned by the minister, but more especially by the dea- 
cons and leaders, respecting the time and cause of her 
" coming to religion ; " her views in wishing to be bap- 
tized; and on the person and offices of Christ. She 
appeared to be a simple-hearted woman, anxious to 
forsake sin, and to join herself to a praying people ; but 
her answers did not evince that clear acquaintance with 
the leading doctrines of Christianity which was deemed 
essential, she was therefore deferred. The next pro- 



182 



JAMAICA. 



bationer, a young man, was deemed suitable to be 
received. Before the decision is made, the candidate 
is requested to withdraw, and those present, who are 
acquainted with him, give their sentiments on the cor- 
rectness of his outward conduct, what change is to be 
observed in it, and whether he is in their opinion a 
converted character. If it is concluded to receive him, 
he is called in, and after being exhorted by the minister 
not to put his trust in the outward ordinance, is in- 
formed that the church has unanimously concluded to 
admit him as a member, and on the first convenient 
occasion he is baptized. We again attended chapel in 
the evening. It was as full as in the morning, with the 
exception of the space occupied by the Sunday-school 
children ; the congregation, however, was a different 
one, being principally composed of persons from the 
town. 

20th^ — On several occasions we have seen the penal 
gang of men and women in chains and collars in the 
streets of Spanish Town, and to-day observed two preg- 
nant women chained together in the gang. 



CHAPTER XII. 



JAMAICA, 

BT. THOMAS IN THE VALE, ST. ANN's, TRELAWNEY, AND 

ST. James's. 

2nd Month, 2Qth, (February) 1837. 

We set but this afternoon on a tour of the western part 
of the island, and arrived late in the evening at Jericho, 
in St. Thomas in the Vale, where we were hospitably 
received by John Clarke, the Baptist missionary of this 
station. 

21st. — We had to-day the opportunity of meeting 
several apprentices from estates in various parts of the 
parish, of which we gladly availed ourselves, being par- 
ticularly desirous of obtaining the free and unbiassed 
testimony of the people themselves, respecting the 
change which had taken place in their condition, since 
the introduction of the apprenticeship. We were care- 
ful to impress upon their minds, (on this as well as on 
all similar subsequent occasions,) that it was not pro- 
bable they would derive the most distant benefit from 
our visit, and that our inquiries were made solely with 
a view to ascertain the truth, for the information of 
ourselves and other of our friends in England. The 
statements of these apprentices, who were all of them 
members of the church, and evidently persons both of 
intelligence and moral worth, are referred to the Ap- 
pendix.* The substance of them was as follows: they 

* See Appendix, Section iv., page 388. 



184 JAMAICA. 

complained that they were compelled, by a compulsory 
arrangement between their overseers and the special 
magistrates, to give their time during crop for scarcely 
any remuneration ; and that out of crop they were, on 
many estates, obliged to work a greater number of hours 
than is required by law. They have been generally 
deprived of the salt fish which they used to receive, and 
have not nearly so large an allowance of clothing. 
Their field cooks (the women who used to bring them 
water in the field, and to cook the dinners for the gang) 
have been taken away. They do not receive the same 
attention when sick; less time is allowed to pregnant 
women before and after confinement, who, on some 
estates, are not allowed to leave field-work up to the 
time of their delivery. The only advantages which they 
enumerated were, that they were no longer liable to be 
flogged and put in the stocks at the caprice of their 
overseers and drivers. One of the men was a head- 
earpenter on a large estate, who had applied, about a 
year ago, to purchase his freedom, and was valued at 
£352. This iniquitous proceeding excited attention 
both in the Colony and at home, but the injured party 
has obtained no redress. He succeeded in obtaining a 
new valuation, when he was rated at £230 ; but though 
he tendered half the money as an instalment, it was 
refused, and the valuation set aside. He has now 
almost given up the hope of freedom, and thinks it will 
not arrive in time to be of much benefit to him, as he is 
in weak health and approaching sixty years of age. All 
these people spoke very affectionately of Doctor Palmer, 
and said he was the best magistrate that ever came into 
the parish. Before his time they never obtained their 
half Fridays, according to the law, and since he was 
removed they have again been deprived of them. He 
encouraged them to clear and cultivate new provision 
grounds, and now they have " plenty of victual in 



JAMAICA. 185 

them," while before they were so unsettled and afraid 
that they neglected their grounds. One of the appren- 
tices suggested, as an effectual remedy for one of the 
greatest abuses to which they are exposed, that a cannon 
should be placed at Rodney Hall workhouse, with a 
soldier to fire it at the proper hours of shell-blow. It 
would be heard on every estate in the vale. They said 
they should be perfectly satisfied if the law were but 
fairly administered ; but that " the white people never 
dealt fairly by them, though they were always the first 
to cry out." Before we took leave of them, one of them 
was requested by the missionary to offer up a prayer, 
which he did, in appropriate and affecting terms, for 
the general extension of religion, for a blessing on the 
church, on their minister and his family, and on the 
friends of the negroes in England ; and, lastly, that their 
minister might have given to him " a voice like a mighty 
shell, to make the word of life known." 

There are, connected with Jericho, four different 
stations, all supplied at intervals by one missionary. In 
these four churches, besides Creoles of Jamaica, and a 
few individuals born in Martinique and Georgia, U. S., 
there are native Africans of fourteen different tribes and 
nations, 

22nd. — We left Jericho very early this morning for 
St. Ann's Bay. Our road, for the first eight or ten miles, 
was over Mount Diabolo, which we presume derives its 
name from the length and steepness of the ascent. On 
looking back into the vale we had left, it appeared filled 
with a dense white fog, which, without a knowledge of 
the locality, might have been taken for the sea. Our 
first stage was a tavern called the Moneague, near the 
summit of the hill. St. Ann's is one of the most beau- 
tiful parishes in the island. It has no sugar estates in 
the interior, but is chiefly occupied in the cultivation of 
pimento or coffee, or by large farms for the raising of 

R 3 



186 JAMAICA. 

horses, cattle, and mules. After leaving the mountains, 
the country opens into an undulating champaign, partly 
covered with forest, but principally with pastures of 
Guinea-grass, growing in tufts of such gigantic size as 
almost to hide the horses and cattle feeding in the midst 
of them. Orange trees, and other varieties of the citron 
tribe, loaded with their golden fruit, are thickly scattered 
over the landscape. The scenery is of a parklike cha- 
racter, the estates having no fences except the walls 
which bound them; while the gentle elevations are 
crowned by clumps of trees, and the lowlands occupied 
with herds of cattle. 

We stayed several hours at the Moneague, and called 
upon a gentleman of the name of Brydon, to whom we 
had an introductory letter. He had just sold his estate 
in this neighbourhood, as he was anxious to return 
home. He is still, however, attorney for several estates 
in an adjoining parish, where he told us all the people 
behaved well, but he allowed them their salt fish and 
other slave allowances. On one property they were at 
one time insubordinate, but he changed the overseer, 
and ordered that they should receive the salt fish, which 
had been discontinued, and their deportment has since 
been satisfactory. Near the Moneague, there is a pa- 
rochial free-school, called Walton's, endowed with a 
house and estate, and two sepai'ate sums of £25,000 and 
£6,000, both on loan to the island treasury, at eight per 
cent. The master is a clergyman, and M.A., and there 
is also a sub-master. This wealthy charity educates and 
maintains sixteen parish scholars, between the ages of 
seven and sixteen years. The head master has also the 
privilege of taking private pupils. 

In some parts of our journey, the trees on either side 
of the road were covered with parasites, the abundance 
and variety of v/hich is a peculiar feature of tropical ve- 
getation. Some twine about the trunks of trees, like 



JAMAICA. 187 

cords of all thicknesses, from cable to thread ; others 
hang in green festoons, and sometimes they are so 
densely woven together as to form a curtain, excluding 
the interior from view. We drove to St. Ann's Bay in 
the evening. The little town on the Bay is beautifully 
situated, but so surrounded by sea swamp as to be very 
unhealthy. The neighbouring heights afford a pleasant 
and safe retreat for the more wealthy inhabitants. Near 
the coast are many fine sugar estates. 

23rd. — In the course of the morning we paid a visit 
to the workhouse and jail, which are contiguous pre- 
mises, separated only by a party-wall. We were shown 
over them, in the supervisor's absence, by his deputy. 
In the jail there were three prisoners in chains, and with 
their feet in shackles, waiting their trial. We were told 
they had attempted to escape ; the wall was sufficiently 
high, but it appeared the door was liable to be left 
open ; so that they are compelled thus to suffer because 
the turnkey is careless. In the workhouse there were 
two prisoners in the solitary cells. One was a female 
apprentice, sentenced to that punishment, and to the 
tread-mill twice a day, for deficiency of work. She was 
evidently ill, and had been so, we were informed, from 
the time of her coming in ; so that the second part of 
the sentence could not be carried into effect. In the 
women's sleeping-room was a woman suffering from an 
injury sustained on the tread-mill : she was in chains. 
A boy in the men's ward was ill from the same cause. 
The deputy told us that an old woman, now at work 
with the penal gang, had this morning sustained similar 
injury from the mill. There are about seventy prisoners 
in the jail and workhouse, for whom the sleeping accom- 
modation is very insufficient. A large number of them 
are life -convicts, principally "incorrigible runaways" 
from slavery. The tread-mill at this workhouse is a 
cylinder, about eight feet in diameter, with broad steps. 



188 JAMAICA. 

The hand-rail above it has eight pairs of straps fastened 
to it, with which the wrists of the prisoners are always 
secured. The board under the rail descends perpendi- 
cularly, and not in a sloping direction, towards the mill, 
and does not, therefore, afford them the slightest pro- 
tection when they lose the step, and hang by the wrists. 
In that case, the sharp steps of the mill, which project 
twelve or fifteen inches from the cylinder, must revolve 
against the bodies and legs of the prisoners with tortur- 
ing effect. Such are the faults in the construction of the 
mill, and the results are such as may have been antici- 
pated. Every step is stained with blood, both recent 
and old ; the former being that of the poor old woman 
whom the deputy mentioned to us. It had been shed so 
profusely, that even the sand on the floor was thickly 
sprinkled with it. We asked him whether the prisoners 
on the tread- wheel were flogged. He repHed, that it 
was necessary "to touch them up" — women as well as 
men. The latter, he said, were struck on the back, but 
the women on their feet. The whip, which we asked 
to see, is a cat composed of nine lashes of knotted small 
cords. The driver of the penal gang, superintendent of 
the tread-mill, and other similar officers, in this, as well 
as in the other workhouses, are taken out of the gang of 
life- convicts. It is fearful to contemplate the abuses 
committed by these petty tyrants, who, being already 
sentenced to imprisonment for life, are thus almost irre- 
sponsible, and beyond the reach of the law. 

In a subsequent part of the day, while we were in the 
town, conversing with several persons, the special magis- 
trate of the district passed by in his gig. He was quite 
intoxicated, and was being driven by the bookkeeper of 
a neighbouring estate, to which they appeared to be 
going to administer the Act for the Abolition of Slavery. 
This man's conduct and character are publicly and dis- 
gracefully notorious. 



JAMAICA. 189 

We called to-day upon the Baptist and Wesleyan 
missionaries. The former, T. F. Abbott, is engaged in 
building a new chapel to accommodate his large and 

increasing congregation. The latter also, Williams, 

occupies a field of extensive usefulness. He informed 
us tnat their churches have been increased by the addi- 
tion of one thousand members in this parish alone, since 
1834. We called, also, upon G. W. Bridges, the Rector 
of the parish, who, though almost overwhelmed with 
grief by a most heavy domestic affliction, the harrowing 
details of which have for some weeks past filled the 
public mind, received us kindly, and expressed a lively 
interest in the object of our journey, 

24th. — We went this morning to see the tread-mill at 
six o'clock, at which time the prisoners sentenced to this 
punishment are put upon it, previously to their being 
sent to the penal gang. Two mixed gangs of men and 
women were put upon it during our stay ; the latter had 
no suitable dress, and were, therefore, liable to be inde- 
cently exposed. The lever by which the speed of the 
wheel is regulated was held the whole time by the 
driver, who sometimes relaxed his hold for a few seconds, 
which made it revolve with such rapidity as to throw all 
the prisoners off. It is thus evident that the punishment 
may be increased beyond endurance, at his caprice. 
Nearly all the prisoners were dreadfully exhausted at 
the end of fifteen minutes. One of the prisoners told 
us he was sent because a cattle (a steer) died under his 
charge. We observed this morning, that not only was 
the floor sprinkled, and the steps stained, but the very 
drum of the mill was spotted with blood. If the pri- 
soners cannot keep step, they are suffered to hang, bat- 
tered by the wheel, till the time expires. The old 
woman mentioned to us yesterday, hung the whole time, 
as she could not keep step from the commencement. 
She was so much injured that she could not be put on 



190 JAMAICA. 

the mill this morning ; but that did not prevent her 
being sent to work in the penal gang in chains and an 
iron collar. 

We called at Drax-hall, one of the large sugar estates 
in the neighbourhood. The quantity of sugar produced 
has not diminished since 1834. The overseer told us, 
that he adopted the eight-hour system, giving directions 
to his bookkeeper " to draw the people off when they 
have worked their time, according to the time they turn 
out in the morning." He gives them their salt fish as 
he did during slavery, except when they behave ill. We 
were shown the hospital, a wretched and filthy building, 
though, from its size, capable of being improved at a 
small expense. On going through the cane pieces, we 
met one of the apprentices, a constable or head man. 
We asked him what he thought of the apprenticeship, as 
compared with slavery; but in the presence of busha 
(the overseer) we could obtain no answer. 

On our return, we rode to the place where the penal 
gang was at work, and saw the poor old woman who had 
suffered so much on the tread-wheel yesterday. She 
was a small, weakly creature. Her legs were most se- 
verely bruised and lacerated. We subsequently learned, 
from some negroes from the same estate, that the late 
special magistrate had permitted her to sit down, (discon- 
tinue labour,) on account of her age, and that when he 
was removed, she was sent to mind sheep. One of them 
died, and she ran away two months, through fear of 
punishment. This was her offence. Several other 
women also showed us the severe injuries which they 
had sustained on the tread-mill. Two of them had in- 
fants in arms, of two or three months old, and had been 
sent, as the driver expressed it, " for not being able to 
please their overseer." One old man was a pitiable 
object, both his body and limbs being swelled by dropsy, 
to a great size. He had been apprehended as a run- 



JAMAICA. 191 

away. The strong men in the gang were employed in 
digging materials for the road out of a deep gully, which 
the women and weakly men brought up by a steep path 
in baskets on their heads; and this poor negro being 
too weak to carry a basket, was chained to two others, 
with whom he was compelled to climb up and down the 
difficult ascent. In the evening we had the opportunity 
of conversing with negroes from seven different estates 
in this neighbourhood. Several of them were very in- 
telligent ; all were members of a Christian church, and 
appeared respectable, well-disposed people. As a proof 
that they did not complain, as a matter of course, those 
from one property, Carlton Pen, expressed themselves 
satisfied, and said they had all the indulgences that were 
customary under the old system. Their statements are 
referred to the Appendix.* Their complaints, which 
were almost uniform, included compulsory and unre- 
quited labour during crop ; frauds of time out of crop ; 
being deprived of their old allowances ; inattention to 
the sick; insufficiency of time allowed to pregnant 
women and nursing mothers; general ill-treatment by 
their overseers ; and, partiality, injustice, and drunken- 
ness of the special magistrate. They said, that all who 
were sent to the tread-mill returned sick and injured, 
some having to stay in the hospital afterwards for two, 
three, or even four months. They were not only daily 
defrauded of their time, but were frequently mulcted of 
their Saturdays. The whole of the people on Windsor 
estate had been fined three Saturdays, for not turning 
out early in the morning, which, they said, was a false 
accusation. They were to begin paying these to-morrow. 
The whole of the apprentices on Cranbrook and Blen- 
heim estates had been mulcted five Saturdays, because 
a few canes had been stolen, and the thief could not be 

* See Appendix, Section iv., page 388. 



192 JAMAICA. 

discovered. Watchmen are employed all night, but it 
is a compulsory service, for which they receive no re- 
muneration. To such an extent are they thus deprived 
of their Saturdays, that they are obliged to work on the 
Sabbath for a subsistence. This statement of these 
negroes was confirmed by one of the missionaries, T. F. 
Abbott, who mentioned to us in conversation yesterday, 
that the attendance at his chapel is affected by it ; the 
people being compelled to go to their grounds on the 
Sabbath. The above-mentioned apprentices told us, 
that when they became free, they should be glad to 
remain on the estates, working for wages; but that 
many of the overseers told them what high rents they 
would have to pay for their cottages, and talked in such 
a way that they thought they would be turned off, 
especially such as were getting old and weak. 

25th. — We came this morning to Brown's Town, a 
small town in the interior of the parish of St. Ann's. 
Our route, for the first ten miles, lay through a suc- 
cession of cane-fields by the seaside; the view of the 
interior was bounded by beautiful green hills. On leav- 
ing the coast, the cultivation of the cane is discontinued, 
and our road over the hills lay through groves of pimento 
trees. Contrary to our expectation, we find the climate 
of the interior more tempered and salubrious than that 
of the coast. In the course of the morning we rode 
over to the Retreat Pen, belonging to S. M. Barrett, an 
estate of great extent and beauty, being several miles in 
length and depth, and comprising both pasture and 
mountain woodland. It is managed by a black over- 
seer, named Samuels, who was born a slave on one of 
the estates of his present master. He is now free, and 
though he can neither read nor write, the property under 
his charge is in the finest order, and the people in the 
best discipline. With perhaps the single exception of 
the apprentices on Hopeton and Lenox estates, the Re- 



JAMAICA. 193 

treat negroes possess, we believe, greater advantages 
than those on any property in the island. We walked 
with the overseer through the negro village. The houses 
are comfortable, and many of them of considerable size, 
and situated in the midst of neat gardens. They had 
shingled roofs, and cement or boarded floors. Most of 
the people were at their provision grounds, but Samuels 
introduced us to such as we found in the houses, as two 
friends of their master, who had come from England to 
see how they lived. They all appeared to be in pros- 
perous condition. Most of the married people had large 
families. The number of apprentices we understood to 
be 228, and of free children seventy-six. After leaving 
the village, we met many of the people returning from 
their provision grounds with heavy baskets, and some 
with mule-loads of provisions, which were either for 
sale in the market, or for their own use during the en- 
suing week. They appeared respectable, intelligent, 
and contented. We made many inquiries of them re- 
specting the change in their condition since 1834, but 
found they had enjoyed the same privileges before, with 
the exception of their alternate Fridays. We asked 
them, also, what they thought of being free in 1840; 
the men usually replied, " that they liked free well ; " 
but the women seemed almost to dread the thoughts of 
change. Samuels observed that very little alteration had 
occurred since 1834; the whip had been abolished ever 
since the proprietor first came to reside in the country. 
He said the apprentices continue to receive their salt 
fish, and other accustomed allowances, and that the free 
children thrive, " because Mr. Barrett takes notice of 
them ; " i. e., gives them the same allowances of clothing, 
and causes the same attention to be paid to them as 
during slavery. We saw about sixty or seventy hogs 
grazing in the open pasture, which were the property of 
the apprentices. They have also eight or ten horses 



194 JAMAICA. 

among them, and feathered stock in abundance. We 
inquired if they cultivated their grounds industriously, 
and were told by the overseer that they did, and were 
even obliged to be restrained from taking in more new 
land. One man, who had neglected his garden, had 
been punished, by taking away two of his Saturdays, and 
sending him on two other days to work in his provision 
ground, under the superintendence of another appren- 
tice. The culprit was so ashamed that he has behaved 
well ever since. Samuels assured us, that the appren- 
tices v/orked well for the estate, and turned out early in 
the morning. A large proportion of them are Wesleyans 
and Baptists. Before the missionaries cam.e among 
them, he observes, there used to be frequent broils ; 
now, all is order and peace. A few years ago none of 
them were married; he himself first set the example, 
and now there are only two mothers of families on the 
property who are unmarried. He says he finds it much 
better to govern by kindness than by punishment, and 
that the people can be made ashamed of bad practices. 

We met, in the course of the day, in Brown's Town, 
Stanley Rawlinson, the stipendiary magistrate of this 
district. He informed us that the people, on the whole, 
behaved well; and that the proprietors and managers, 
with scarcely an exception, are well disposed; that the 
apprentices have their half Fridays, and that the preg- 
nant women are allowed to discontinue work two months 
before confinement, and for several weeks after. There 
are only seven sugar estates in his district, the rest being 
coffee or pimento properties. He acknowledged that 
the St. Ann's workhouse, which we visited yesterday, is 
a very severe place. We regret to observe, that his 
account of the treatment of the apprentices does not at 
all correspond with what we subsequently heard from 
their own lips, nor with the testimony of impartial wit- 
nesses. We called on the resident Baptist missionary, 



JAMAICA. 195 

John Clark, at whose house we saw two apprentices from 
Penshurst, the property of G. W. Senior. One of them 
was James WiUiams, a negro youth, about eighteen years 
of age, whose unpremeditated statements to us corre- 
spond with the more detailed account which has since 
been made public in England.* 

25th. — We breakfasted this morning at the mission- 
house, with the teacher of the Mico school ; John Clark 
being absent at a baptism by the seaside, ten miles dis- 
tant. There is a large Sunday-school at the mission- 
house, attended by from 400 to 500 children and adults, 
which is superintended by the agent of the Mico trus- 
tees. The Mico school is the only day-school, and it is 
attended by about sixty children, and the number is 
daily increasing. The teacher informed us, that those 
who can afford it, pay regularly a trifling weekly amount. 
He mentioned, that a short time ago he was located on 
an estate, in the parish of Portland, where he was fur- 
nished with a house by the proprietor, on condition that 
the apprentices and their children should be taught free 
of expense. Those from neighbouring estates were re- 
quired to pay fivepence per week. Such was the general 
desire to learn, that from several estates, whose popula- 
tion amounted to 470, 368 adults and children were 
under his instruction. Many of them made considerable 
progress ; but, after a short time, the school was given 
up, because the proprietor complained that the master 
sympathised too much ^ith the negroes, and said, if any 
disturbance took place, he should attribute it to that 
cause. Our informant observed, that the work of edu- 
cation may be successfully promoted by any qualified 
person undertaking it with sincere intentions ; but that 
in order to obtain the confidence of the people, it is ne- 
cessary to avoid the intimacy of the overseers. 

* See Appendix, Section v., page 429. 



196 JAMAICA. 

The minister returned about ten o'clock, and an hour 
afterwards the morning worship commenced. Though 
this is comparatively a new station, there were at least 
1000 persons crowded into the chapel, and many could 
not obtain admittance. They listened attentively to an 
earnest and faithful discourse on regeneration ; a sub- 
ject which was so treated as to wean their minds from 
a dependence on the outward form of baptism, of which 
fifty-two of them had been that morning partakers. 
After the service, a marriage was celebrated with the 
most appropriate simplicity, the form employed being a 
judicious selection of passages from the Old and New- 
Testament. In the early part of the afternoon the 
sacrament was administered; after which, the people, 
many of whom came from estates at a considerable 
distance, generally dispersed to their homes. In the 
evening there was another service, attended by about 
300 persons, chiefly from the town and its immediate 
vicinity. 

During the day and in the evening we availed our- 
selves of the opportunity of conversing with many of 
the members, who were apprentices on neighbouring 
properties. Their statements are referred to the Ap- 
pendix.* It is impossible to do justice to them by any 
general summary; we will therefore observe, that they 
include aggravated forms of every abuse which we have 
yet heard complained of, and reiterated oppressions and 
cruelties of masters, overseers, and the special magis- 
trate. 

26th. — We left Brown's Town early this morning, 
and drove over to the Retreat Pen to breakfast. We 
afterwards saw the estate school, which is attended by 
all the older free children, and a few of the apprentices. 
The classes read and spelt correctly, and a few of them 

* See Appendix, Section iv., page 388. 



JAMAICA. 197 

wrote to dictation. The school does great credit to the 
teacher, a young woman, about nineteen, the daughter 
of Samuels, the overseer. We were afterwards shown 
over the hospital, which is a good and airy building. 
We met there the medical attendant, who is a coloured 
man, and an irregular practitioner, in considerable prac- 
tice. He was formerly a slave on - this property, but 
purchased himself, because his wife was free and lived 
at a distance. 

Our next stage was Stewart's Town, another small 
interior town in St. Ann's, on the borders of the parish 
of Trelawney. We called on the Wesleyan and Baptist 
missionaries. At the house of the latter we met J. Vine, 
one of the six missionaries sent out two years ago by 
the London Missionary Society. He was stationed on 
Arcadia, the estate of W. A. Hankey, where his minis- 
try had a very auspicious commencement, but was at 
length successfully obstructed by the attorney, and his 
longer residence rendered impossible, by the want of 
sympathy and positive discouragement he met with from 
the proprietor. His present residence, where we sub- 
sequently visited him, is about four miles from Stewart's 
Town, on the summit of a hill, where he has purchased 
a small spot of ground for a mission station. The house, 
which consists of two apartments and a porch or hall, is 
in a ruinous condition. In many places the sky can be 
seen through the roof. Two additional rooms are being 
built, which will make it barely tenantable. The mis- 
sionary, his wife, and children, are surrounded by incon- 
veniences, which nothing but a dedication to their work 
could enable them to endure. Their temporary chapel 
is a large canvas tent, which is crowded on the Sabbath 
by negroes from neighbouring and distant estates. 
When it ceased to be practicable for him to remain 
on Arcadia, J. Vine wished to obtain, by purchase, a 
small piece of ground, separated from the rest of the 

s 3 



198 



JAMAICA. 



estate by a public road. He would then have been 
situated in the centre of a circle, comprising a popula- 
tion of 5000 persons, the outer circumference of which 
would have been, in every part, three or four miles 
from any other mission station whatever. He showed 
us a map of the locality, which he had traced, exhibiting 
its extent and population. After a tantalising cor- 
respondence his request was refused, because, in the 
opinion of the attorney of Arcadia, the vicinity of 
chapels and schools lessens the value of West India 
property. No similar situation could be obtained; all 
the land within the circle described being attached to 
large sugar estates, and not to be purchased, because, 
in some instances, the estates were mortgaged, and, in 
others, worldly-minded and hostile proprietors refused 
to waive an objection, which had such weight with one 
who w^as a professor of religion and a patron of the mis- 
sion. J. Vine obtained his present very inconvenient 
station with considerable difficulty, and at an exorbitant 
price. A neighbouring proprietor told the person who 
sold it, that he would have given a still higher price 
rather than a missionary should have had it. It is 
several miles from Arcadia.* 

On our way to Falmouth we called, for a short time, at 
Hyde Hall, an estate belonging to E. Shirley, which 
has been mentioned with distinction in the first report 
of the apprenticeship committee of the House of Com- 
mons. On this and two smaller adjoining estates of the 
same proprietor, about £5000 per annum are paid in 
wages for the free labour of the apprentices in their 
own time. The overseer told us that they had nothing 
to fear from entire emancipation. He said he had often 
heard of troublesome negroes, but, though he had been 
on several estates, he had never met with any whom it 

* See Appendix, Section vi., page 433. 



JAMAICA. 199 

was difficult to manage with kind treatment. We were 
shown over the buildings. The hospital is one of the 
best we have seen. There were several patients ; some 
with an eruptive complaint, said to have been imported 
by the German emigrants ; and a poor man, whose 
hand was changed into a mass of fungous ulceration, 
proceeding from the prick of a bamboo. Ulcers and 
sores are much more obstinate in the negro than in the 
European constitution. The works on Hyde Hall are 
extensive, and economy of labour is studied ; the plough 
is much used, and tram-roads are beginning to be intro- 
duced at the works. There is a family of Sussex emi- 
grants on the estate, consisting of a man, his wife, and 
four or five children, who landed three weeks ago, and 
seem hitherto highly delighted with their new country. 
The overseer showed us some specimens of the lace 
bark. The tree which produces it is rare, and grows 
only on elevated situations in the interior. As every 
lover of specimens, of whatever kind, must be in this 
country his own collector and curator, they are not 
easily obtained. 

28th. — Falmouth, where we arrived late last night, is 
a town of increasing size and importance. It is one of 
the most beautiful in the island, but so surrounded by 
mangrove swamps, that, were it all embayed, it would 
probably be uninhabitable from malaria. Being on a 
promontory it is kept tolerably healthy by the constant 
sea and land breezes. We breakfasted with William 
Knibb, whom we found to be as ardent as ever in his 
advocacy of the rights of the negroes. We afterwards 
accompanied him to see his new chapel, which is nearly 
finished, and is large enough to accommodate 2000 
persons. It is erected in place of the building de- 
stroyed by the planters after the rebellion. Some of 
the individuals who distinguished themselves as chapel- 
destroyers are still in the magistracy, and one of them 



200 JAMAICA. 

in this parish has been invested with the special com- 
mission. 

In the course of the morning we visited the jail and 
workhouse, both which institutions are superior in clean- 
liness and arrangement, to any we have yet seen. The 
supervisor is said to be a humane man. The tread- 
wheel is constructed as a machine for labour, and not for 
torture. None but the contumacious are strapped on. 
No cat is used. There are in the workhouse no life 
convicts. The women, however, as well as the men, 
work in the penal gang, in chains and iron collars 
There were in one of the rooms ten women from Lan- 
squinet estate, each with an infant about twelve months 
old in her arms. We saw two orders from the special 
justice connected with their case. One was for a strong 
body of police to be sent on the estate, where " a 
barrack was prepared for them," to quell, we presume, by 
their presence, a rebellion among the nursing mothers.* 
The other order was a warrant to lodge ten apprentices 
(no names mentioned) in the workhouse for three days. 
The supervisor acknowledged to us that their children 
had been allowed no food during a part of the day and 
night that they had been there, because they were not 
mentioned in the commitment, and the prison store 
contained nothing suitable for them. The statement of 
the woman was, that on Friday morning last, as it was 
very wet, and they were obliged to carry their children 
into the field with them, they did not turn out before 
breakfast. For this they were taken before the special 
magistrate (Pryce) on Monday, who sentenced them 



* The terms rebellion and insubordination have a different meaning in 
Jamaica from that which belongs to them in England. One of the 
special magistrates, in a recent report, speaks of symptoms of rebellion 
appearing in his district, " particularly amongst the women." A few 
months since, a peaceable meeting of apprentices and others in Spanish 
Town, was dispersed by reading the Riot Act, and calling out the military. 



JAMAICA* 201 

to pay six Saturdays. They told him they could not, as 
their mountain grounds were six miles distant, and they 
were deprived of their half Fridays, and of their salt fish, 
and received now no sugar or flour for their children ; 
that without their Saturdays, they had no means of ob- 
taining subsistence. For their contumacy, they were 
sent to the workhouse for three days, and will still have 
to work the six Saturdays. We observed among the 
minutes of the visiting magistrates, an order dated some 
months ago, and signed by two magistrates, that women 
pregnant, or with children at the breast, should not be 
punished by imprisonment in the solitary cells ; which 
here, as elsewhere, are dark and ill ventilated, and in 
which prisoners are always fed on low diet; also, that 
those who were confined in them, should be allowed a 
quarter of an hour per diem for air and exercise. This 
order was accompanied by a memorandum, signed by 
the medical attendant, stating medical reasons for the 
necessity for such an order. A few weeks since, this 
order was rescinded by a minute signed by the Gustos 
of the parish, William Frater, who merely remarks, in 
general terms, that he has the sanction of the present 
medical man ; the former having died in the interim. 

We next visited W. Knibb's school, which is under 
the care of T. E. Ward. It is a large and substantial 
building, built upon a site which has been converted, 
within little more than a twelvemonth, from sea swamp 
into dry land. There were 100 children present, among 
whom we heard eight little negroes read in the Testa- 
ment, who did not know a letter when the school was 
opened, eight months ago. We also examined a class 
in arithmetic and mental calculation. They answered 
difficult questions with great rapidity. We were pre- 
sented with specimens of their writing, which exhibit 
the same rapid improvement in that art, for which 
almost all the negro and coloured children are remark- 



202 JAMAICA. 

able. We afterwards accompanied W. Knibb to Wil- 
berforce, one of his mountain stations, six miles distant, 
where he has recently built a school and chapel. It is 
efficiently conducted, and is numerously attended, as 
there is no other nearer than Falmouth in any direction. 
In going to this station, we passed through Oxford estate, 
the property of Edward Barrett, an absentee. There 
are on it 300 negroes, of whom nearly one-third are 
Baptists. We saw and conversed with one of the head 
negroes, who had been offered his freedom for his good 
conduct during the rebellion, but had transferred the 
boon to his son, saying he could endure slavery better, 
as he was more accustomed to it. This estate is ma- 
naged on a liberal plan ; although few of the old allow- 
ances are continued. During crop the people are paid 
wages, with good faith, at the rate of one shilling for 
eight hours extra labour. There have been no punish- 
ments on the estate for two years past, and this old 
negro assured us, that the people did more work than 
ever, and that there was an annual increase in the crops. 
3rd month. — 1st. {March.) — We paid a visit this 
morning, accompanied by John Kelly, a liberal magis- 
trate in the local commission, and by S. Pryce, the sti- 
pendiary of the district, to Goodhope, the centre of nine 
contiguous estates, belonging to one proprietor, and 
comprising a population of 2000 apprentices. The 
population on Goodhope is about 350. The great house 
and other buildings are on a very large scale. The 
hospital, which is almost large enough for a county peni- 
tentiary, was originally built for the joint purposes of a 
hospital and place of punishment for the nine estates ; 
but is now appropriated as a hospital, school, and church. 
There is a salaried medical man resident on the estate, 
and also a clergyman, who, besides the duties of the 
Sabbath, takes charge of the school, which is thrown open 
gratuitously to the neighbourhood, and numerously at- 



JAMAICA. 203 

tended by the free children of the apprentices. The 
boihng-house and mill on Goodhope were in full opera- 
tion, making about twelve hogsheads of sugar per week, 
of excellent quality. The overseer assured us that the 
negroes worked as hard as during slavery. The range 
of workshops is extensive ; nearly every description of 
iron-work, carpenter's and cooper's work, and masonry 
being executed by the apprentice tradesmen of the 
estate, who are very numerous, and many of them first- 
rate workmen. 

On our return we made a short stay at the house of 
the special magistrate, who showed us many of his re- 
ports, and gave us other information respecting his 
district. It includes a population of 8000 apprentices 
and 1500 free children ; among whom there is a consi- 
derable preponderance of females. The reports fre- 
quently alluded to the steady and good conduct of the 
apprentices, and to the incapacity and obstinacy of the 
overseers. In one of them there was an order quoted, 
as entered by the medical attendant of one of the estates, 
in the Plantation Journal, that " the patients with sores 
should be kept in the stocks." This attempt to revive a 
brutal custom was fortunately defeated. The special 
magistrate mentioned that one of the largest proprietors 
in his district, a man too of liberal conduct, when he 
went into the neighbouring parishes of Westmoreland 
and Hanover, always returned much dissatisfied, de- 
claring that the people there were taking off the crop 
without wages. We afterwards learned during our stay 
in those parishes that this was too true, and that the 
apprentices are deprived of an enormous amount of time, 
without any compensation whatever. On our return to 
Falmouth, we had an opportunity in the evening of 
conversing with a number of apprentices from Oxford 
and Cambridge, two estates belonging to a liberal pro- 
prietor in England. They are very favourable instances 



204 JAMAICA. 

compared with other estates. Their statements will be 
found in the Appendix.* 

The parish of Trelawney is one of the largest and 
wealthiest in the island. It is almost exclusively planted 
with canes. The estates occupying plains and undu- 
lating lands near the coast, and the negroes' provision 
grounds being situated in the mountain woodlands of 
the interior, at distances varying from three to even 
twenty miles from their homes. There are only three 
or four resident proprietors, although on almost every 
estate, there is a large and substantial "great house," 
furnished and kept in order, but only occupied by the 
planting attorneys on the occasion of their hasty and 
infrequent visits. The number of these expensive man- 
sions would indicate that the parish once possessed a 
numerous resident proprietary. Although there are 
fewer abuses in this parish than in many others, yet 
W. Knibb, who has the most extensive opportunities of 
knowing the treatment of the apprentices, said, that 
during the last eighteen months he had never heard of 
an oppressed apprentice having obtained effectual re- 
dress by making complaint, but that he was acquainted 
with numerous instances in which their appeals to the 
magistrate had resulted in their being punished. 

2nd. — We left Falmouth early this morning for 
Montego Bay, the chief town and port of the adjoining 
parish of St. James. We visited the workhouse and 
jail. The latter is a large, airy building, with spacious 
and convenient court and apartments. The workhouse 
is on a hill above the town, in a healthy situation, but 
the building is too small for its purposes, and in a state 
of dilapidation. The tread -wheel was also a ricketty 
and miserable machine. Several of the solitary cells 
were perfectly dark, and very insufficiently ventilated. 

* See Appendix, Section iv., page 388. 



JAMAICA. 205 

There are at the present time thirty prisoners in the 
workhouse, including one life convict. Women, as well 
as men, work in the penal gang in chains and iron collars, 
in this as in other parts of the island. We called in the 
course of the day on Thomas Burchell, the Baptist 
missionary, whose exertions and sufferings on behalf of 
the negroes are well known in England, and also on 
his colleague, S. Oughton. We had also the pleasure 
of making the acquaintance of I. L. Lewin, a private 
individual residing in Montego Bay, who is one of the 
best friends of the negroes, and has often advocated 
their rights. 

3rd. — We visited Latium estate, which is situated io 
this parish, and is considered one of the best managed 
properties in the island. The number of slaves upon it 
in 1834 was 450. The special magistrate of the district, 
W. Carnaby, has obligingly furnished us with a memo- 
randum of the courts he has held upon it during the 
last fourteen months. Out of twenty-five official visits, 
complaints were brought before him on five occasions 
only, being in the whole thirteen cases, in eleven of 
which punishments were awarded, including one of flog- 
ging. From other information we learn that the ap- 
prentices are nearly all Baptists, attending Salter's Hill 
chapel, in the immediate neighbourhood ; that there are 
eighty-three married couples among them, and that fifty 
of the free children attend the school at the mission 
station, which has been liberally encouraged by pecu- 
niary aid from the attorney. The apprentices and their 
free children not only receive all their accustomed allow- 
ances, but are left in undisturbed enjoyment of their 
half Fridays and Saturdays. They are remunerated for 
the extra labour required from them during crop, as 
well as for as many of their own days as they choose 
to employ in working on the estate. Under this ma- 
nagement the crops are equally large, and the nett 



206 JAMAICA* 

revenue from the estate greater than at any former 
period. The attorney, Henry Hunter, to whom we 
were introduced, gave us much valuable information. 
The minutest details of the management of the planta- 
tion for a series of years have been reduced by him to 
a tabular form, at an incredible cost of labour. He 
kindly presented us with a copy of a series of calculations 
and statements, which show the immense superiority of 
free over slave labour, as well as the docility and in- 
dustry of the negroes, when encouraged by judicious 
and kind treatment. Some extracts from these tables, 
exhibiting valuable and curious results, are given in the 
Appendix.* From 1817 to 1834 the population in 
Latium gradually decreased; since 1834 the births have 
been very numerous, and it has in consequence begun 
to increase. The number of patients in the hospital 
throughout the year has also decreased to a very great 
extent. On a large pen and coffee estate in another 
parish, belonging to the same proprietor, the people 
have much increased in number since I8l7.f We were 
shown through the negro village and over the hospital, 
w^hich presented an appearance of cleanliness and com- 
fort. We conversed with a few of the people, though as 
it is their own half-day, they were most of them on their 
provision grounds. The head carpenter, a very intel- 
ligent negro, told us, that when he became free, he 
would not leave Latium, even if he could obtain higher 
wages elsewhere. The apprentices had been employed 
this morning in dividing a piece of fresh land contiguous 
to the fields where they worked, which had just been 
given them, in addition to their more extensive distant 

* See Appendix, Section vii., page 439. 

t The pi-oprietor of the Retreat Pen, which we visited a few days 
ago, informed us, that while the population has increased one hundred 
on that property, the numbers on a large sugar estate in bis possessioa 
liid declined to an equal extent within the same period. 



JAMAICA. 207 

gardens, " for shell-blow grounds," in which they might 
employ the time between meals and other short in- 
tervals. A circumstance was mentioned to us, w^hich 
proves how great an amount of injustice may be perpe- 
trated by both masters and magistrates, in deciding 
against apprentices, on those vague and general charges 
so commonly preferred by the overseers and book- 
keepers. On this estate the overseer became dissatis- 
fied with the quantity of work performed, and took away 
the allowances of salt fish. When the amount of work 
came to be added up in the plantation-book, it was 
found they had done more than at any former period. 
The arrears of allowance were therefore ordered to be 
paid up by the attorney. 

4th. — We inspected the day-school recently established 
in connexion with the Baptist mission. There were 
about 150 children present, of all ages. They were in 
very good discipline, and their progress, during the short 
time, satisfactory. An infant and sewing- school are 
about to be formed on the same premises. These schools 
were opened by a public celebration of an extraordinary 
character. The missionaries requested their country 
congregations connected with the Montego Bay station, 
to send their children to be present. Many came from 
great distances, some nearly thirty miles, sleeping in 
little groups in the open road. The whole number was 
3172. There is also in Montego Bay a flourishing school 
on the Mico foundation, which we had not an opportu- 
nity of visiting. 

We afterwards attended the Saturday Court, which is 
held in the town by the special magistrates. A man and 
his wife, apprentices on adjoining properties, complained 
that an overseer's horse had trespassed in their ground, 
and entirely destroyed their provisions. This is an ex- 
ample of a frequent and very serious injury to which the 
apprentices are liable. The damage cannot be repaired 



208 JAMAICA. 

sometimes for a whole season, and meantime they are 
destitute of food. In this case, one of the magistrates 
promised his interference. There were several valu- 
ations, one of a non-predial, a coloured young woman, 
who was very smartly dressed. Another case was that 
of a predial, a girl of seventeen. A witness valued her 
at £10 per annum. The magistrate, chosen by her 
owner, objected to the amount; when the pliant evi- 
dence immediately declared he meant the nett amount, 
without the usual deduction of one-third for casualties. 
This deduction, was however, made. Another appren- 
tice, who wished to purchase his time, was valued by his 
master, who described him as a mason and cabinet- 
maker, at £69 per annum : this case was adjourned. It 
appears to be common in valuations, not only to enume- 
rate all the virtues of the apprentices, who are at other 
times so unscrupulously vilified, but to represent them 
as very proficient in a number of different and incompa- 
tible handicraft trades. 

5th. — Thomas Burchell, like his brother missionary at 
Falmouth, is engaged in erecting his chapel, which was 
destroyed after the rebellion. The new building, when 
completed, will hold 3000 persons. The late persecu- 
tion of the missionaries has given an astonishing impulse 
to their religious labours. The destroyed chapels are 
replaced by much larger buildings, which are yet inade- 
quate for the accommodation of their hearers. The 
services of the Sabbath at this station are at present 
conducted in a large dwelling-house, from which mosl 
of the interior walls and partitions have been removed. 
According to the usual custom in Jamaica, a prayer 
meeting was held early in the morning. Three of the 
negroes took part in it, one of whom was an old African ; 
their expressions were often beautiful and eloquent. We 
afterwards visited the Sunday-schools, in which were 514 
children assembled. The extensive diffusion of religious 



JAMAICA, 209 

instruction and education, by such an apparently limited 
agency^ is remarkable at all the stations of the Baptists 
which we have visited. The morning service com- 
menced at ten, and was attended by at least 3000 per- 
sons, many of whom came from great distances. In the 
evening we came to Mount Carey, a mountain station of 
the Baptist missionaries of Montego Bay. There is also 
a flourishing school here, attended on the Sabbath by 
500 or 600 children, and on other days by about ] 00. 
On our way the scenes of many of the principal events 
of the late rebellion were pointed out to us. 

6th. — Mount Carey is in the heart of the districts 
involved in the rebellion. The works and buildings of 
every estate in its neighbourhood were destroyed by the 
insurgents, and on many the eifects of the recent deso- 
lation are still visible in the bare and unroofed walls of 
many of the buildings. In the course of the morning 
we visited Eden, a well-managed estate, and one which 
furnishes little employment for the special magistrate. 
Its population was, on the average, stationary from 1817 
to 1834, and has since begun to increase. We next 
proceeded to Wiltshire estate, another well-conducted 

property. The resident attorney, Fenton, is the 

only manager at whose house special justice Norcott 
ever condescended to take refreshment. That individual, 
amidst some eccentricities, was distinguished by an in- 
flexible love of justice. His name is held in grateful 
remembrance by the negro population of this parish. He 
was once overtaken on this property by a tropical shower, 
and after waiting in vain for its cessation, he at last con- 
sented to take a glass of punch ; but on being asked to 
stay dinner, immediately took his flight in the rain. The 
special commission may be made almost a sinecure, by 
worthless magistrates ; but the difficulties to which up- 
right men are exposed can only be appreciated by eye- 
witnesses. Their districts are often twenty miles in 

T 3 



210 JAMAICA. 

extent, in a country more mountainous than Wales or 
Scotland; frequently they cannot obtain houses within 
them; they are required to visit each estate twice a 
month ; and in order to do this, are obliged to keep 
from two to four horses, and to incur other charges 
which their salaries in this expensive country are totally 
inadequate to sustain. When to these is added the in- 
cessant persecutions of the planters, and the harassing 
pursuit of their duties, under a burning sun, it will cease 
to surprise that so many of them have fallen victims to 
their labours, or have withdrawn in disgust. To avoid 
depending on the hospitalities of the overseers is nearly 
impossible; for it requires an inflexible resolution, and 
a capacity of enduring fatigue and hunger, which few 
possess, and still fewer have the principle to bring such 
qualities into action. 

The population on Wiltshire has increased for many 
years past, ever since it has been under the management 
of its present attorney. He introduced the remedial pro- 
visions of the apprenticeship two months before the bill 
came into operation. There has been only one punish- 
ment on the estate since, and that in a case of theft. 

We met here two of the special magistrates, Facey 
and Odell, in whose company we visited Montpelier, an 
estate belonging to Lord Seaford, This property is in 
the same situation as many others belonging to humane, 
well-intentioned proprietors residing in England. The 
authority of the magistrate is in constant requisition. 
The overseer was absent on militia duty; one of the 
book-keepers showed us the premises, though with some 
appearance of reluctance. A new substantial stone 
dungeon has just been erected. It consists, besides a 
narrow passage, of two arched cells, about twelve feet by 
nine, and eight or nine feet high, perfectly dark. The 
erection of such a building, at a time when penal confine- 
ment on estates ought to have wholly ceased, requires no 



JAMAICA. 2ll 

comment; and it has not been built to remain untenanted. 
One of the attorneys, without any magistrate's order, has 
twice directed to be locked up in it thirteen old women, 
who refused to cut grass on their own days. They were 
kept during their confinement on a short allowance of 
bread and water. We saw also the hospital, which is the 
worst we have seen on a large estate, and is very dirty 
and offensive. It consists of three rooms and a passage, 
in which there are about twenty patients. There is a 
court before it, enclosed with a lofty fence of bamboos, 
pointed at the top, so as to exclude the inmates from all 
communication with their friends, at the pleasure of the 
overseer. We were shown over the works and curing 
house. One of the hogsheads of sugar had been spoiled 
by the carelessness of the boiler-man. The book-keeper 
told us that they never interfered with the negroes in 
the manufacture of the sugar, and that a book-keeper is 
stationed in the boiling-house, merely to see that the 
negroes commit no depredations on the syrup or sugar. 
It appears, then, that the science of sugar making is 
monopolised by the despised apprentices. One of the 
special magistrates intended to hold his Court on the 
estate to-day, but the overseer being absent, he could 
only take cognizance of complaints, and promise to decide 
them at his next visit. Several men said they had 
agreed to work a certain number of extra hours, but had 
not been fully paid the stipulated amount ; a woman 
complained against the head book-keeper for abusive 
language ; the estate against a man for stealing sugar ; a 
cattle-boy against another apprentice for flogging him ; 
and, lastly, the thirteen old women before mentioned 
complained that they had again been deprived of their 
time. They were all apparently upwards of sixty years 
of age, and appeared quite unequal to any heavy employ- 
ment. From Montpelier we proceeded to Belvidere. 
Before the rebellion this estate is said to have been most 



212 JAMAICA. 

cruelly managed. For a year past it has been under the 
care of a Scotch peasant, who came out as a ploughman, 
and has been promoted by a judicious attorney to the sta- 
tion of overseer. He is not only greatly improving the 
cultivation, but adding to the comforts of the negroes. 
We have met with no one who has introduced the plough 
so extensively. We conversed with several of the negroes 
in the boiling-house. They all said they were satisfied 
with their busha, and would be glad when free to remain 
as labourers on the estate. If the same question had 
been asked them a year before, they should have given a 
very different answer. They receive twopence per hour 
for extra labour during crop, which is the most liberal 
arrangement we have yet heard of. There are eighteen 
persons on this estate past work, many of whom have 
been rendered so by former ill treatment, which has in- 
duced premature old age. As we were leaving Belvidere, 
we met a number of the " King-free" children returning 
to it from the school at Mount Carey, which is five miles 
distant; so that these little creatures have to walk ten 
miles daily, to and from school. During our stay in 
Saint James's, we had several opportunities of hearing 
the narrations of the wrongs and oppressions of the 
apprentices from their own lips. Their statements are 
given in the Appendix,* as examples of the condition 
of the apprentices, and of the mode in which the Aboli- 
tion Law is administered. They include flagrant in- 
stances of the frauds of time which are committed on the 
apprentices, of the enforcement of extra labour in and 
out of crop for little or no remuneration, of the neglect 
of the sick, oppression of nursing mothers, pregnant 
women, and mothers of six children, who were exempt 
during slavery from field labour; together with instances 
of ill-treatment, of which no general description can be 

* See Appendix, Section, iv., page 388. 



JAMAICA. 



213 



given. The worst cases are from the adjoining parish of 
Hanover. It may be proper to mention here the follow- 
ing circumstances : — ^^One of the special magistrates, in 
this part of the island, had occasion to fine an overseer 
for oppression. The man said, " he would have it out of 
the people's salt fish," and sold two barrels of herrings, 
sent by the proprietor or attorney for the apprentices, 
and paid the fine out of the proceeds. The same magis- 
trate imposed a fine recently in a flagrant case. The 
party appealed to the Governor, who desired him to 
conciliate, and directed him to remit the fine. Another 
special magistrate applied to the Governor respecting the 
proper interpretation of a clause in the Act in Aid which 
was used to enforce night-work, but received no answer. 
Similar instances of want of support and countenance are 
not infrequent. 

Although Saint James's parish was the seat of the in- 
surrection, and is still the hot-bed of colonial prejudice, 
yet in consequence of the exertions of one or two private 
individuals ; the presence of several special magistrates 
of superior moderation and justice ; of a few humane and 
enlightened managers of estates, and of one or two large 
planting attorneys, who appear desirous of acting in a 
liberal spirit; there are probably as many estates on 
which the apprentices enjoy some of the remedial pro- 
visions of the law, as in any other which is chiefly occu- 
pied in the cultivation of sugar. Saint James's is the 
only parish where the slaves, who were not duly registered, 
have succeeded in obtaining their freedom.* About 
three hundred have thus been emancipated, chiefly 
through the exertions of J. L. Lewin. In this parish, 
also, and the adjoining one of Trelawney, the pro-slavery 
feeling and influence are somewhat neutralised by the 
more liberal public opinion of the fine flourishing towns 
of Falmouth and Montego Bay. 

* See Appendix, Section iii., page 386. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



JAMAICA. 

HANOVER, WESTMORELAND, AND ST. ELIZABETH. 

Zrd Month, 1th, {March) 1836. 

We arrived this morning at Lucea, in Hanover, of which 
parish it is the port. It is a small but increasing town, 
situated near the north-west extremity of the island. In 
the course of the morning we visited the workhouse and 
jail, which are contiguous buildings, on a promontory 
immediately above the sea. The jail consists of a court 
and four rooms, besides the jailor's house and two apart- 
ments in the upper story for debtors, which are at pre- 
sent unoccupied. The premises were very clean, but 
there appeared no attempt at classification, nor any 
space to carry that desirable object into effect. There 
were nine or ten men, and one woman in the yard, 
waiting to take their trial for misdemeanors or felonies, 
or in detention as witnesses. There were no chains, 
shackles, nor iron collars, which seem to be reserved for 
the apprentices. We afterwards inspected the work- 
house, accompanied by Alexander Campbell, the senior 
magistrate resident in Lucea. The prisoners are not 
secured at night by shackles, and though many of the 
women and men in the penal gang wore chains and 
collars, yet this degrading livery was not universal in the 
case of females. The tread-mill was of bad construction, 
and capable of being made an instrument of much 
torture. There were five women in the solitary cells : 
two of whom had been mentioned to us spontaneously 



JAMAICA. 215 

by some negroes at Montego Bay from the same estate, 
called Newmill. The account we had heard was as 
follows : — Two old women named Lucy Ann Stephen 
and Judy Evans, who had each of them eight children, 
of whom the youngest is now about thirteen, were al- 
lowed to sit down, (cease work,) from the time they had 
their youngest child until after the rebellion, when they 
were compelled to cut grass. They continued at this 
employment after the introduction of the apprenticeship, 
until they lately refused, on account of their age and 
weakness. They were brought before the magistrate, 
and sent to the workhouse. We inquired the names of 
the women in the cells, and found these two, and a third 
from Newmill, under the same circumstances. They 
were very old and infirm, and on our inquiring what 
they were sent for, replied, " Too much piccaninny, 
massa," i. e., they had so many children that they were 
entitled to leave field work. We saw the magistrate's 
warrant, which directs them to be put in solitary con- 
finement for ten days, and " fed on the usual prison 
fare without herrings." The case of another woman, 
who was in the yard, also excited our attention. She 
had been sent from Savanna la Mar in Westmoreland, 
in which town the workhouse of that parish is situated, 
to this workhouse, by two special magistrates, to be 
punished for fourteen days by penal labour, and put 
upon the tread-mill every other day. Her alleged offence 
was running away and refusing to work. She was a 
domestic servant, and her absence from her mistress's 
house, she told us, was occasioned by illness. She was 
ill when she came, and was evidently so when we saw 
her. The supervisor and medical attendant of the 
workhouse have more humanity than the stipendiaries, 
and treat her as an invalid. It is not uncommon to send 
apprentices out of their own parish to a distant work- 
house : the motive being to send them away from any 



216 JAMAICA. 

friend who might assist or sympathise with them ; some- 
times workhouses are resorted to that have a reputation 
for cruel treatment. There are three life convicts at 
Lucea. 

In this parish several non-registered slaves have suc- 
ceeded in recovering their freedom. The first who made 
the discovery and mooted the question was flogged by 
the special magistrate as a refractory apprentice. He 
ran away to Spanish Town, a distance of eighty or 
ninety miles, to appeal to the Governor, and has not 
since been molested, except that his late master has 
made a claim upon the person employing him for 
wages at the rate of ten shillings a day, under what is 
called the inveigling clause in the Act in Aid. Those 
who have thus recovered their freedom have succeeded 
only negatively, by the refusal of the special magistrate 
to coerce them as apprentices. We have been informed 
of another case in the neighbourhood, in which a negro 
thus obtained his liberty, and hired himself to work on 
a plantation. When he applied for his wages, the over- 
seer told him he should pay them over to his owner. 
The case was brought before the local liiagistrates ; but 
the injured party could obtain no redress. The rights 
of these non-registered negroes have been sacrificed by 
the supineness of the home Government. We saw to- 
day an apprentice from a neighbouring estate, who gave 
us a striking account of the distress he and his fellow- 
apprentices suffered, from the trespass of cattle on their 
provision grounds, which are quite unprotected and 
seven miles distant. 

8th. — We attended this morning the weekly petty 
sessions, which are held by three or four local magis- 
trates. The only case of interest was a charge against 
a negro for drunkenness and riotous conduct in the 
street. He said he was a sailor belonging to a Kingston 
vessel, which had left him behind. The presiding ma- 



JAMAICA. 217 

gistrate said, " We do not know that you are a free 
man ; where is your free paper ? " He said he had lost 
it. The same magistrate then suggested, in an under- 
tone, that he should be committed to the workhouse as 
a runaway apprentice; but his coadjutors decided in the 
negative, and the man was fined two dollars.* We after- 
wards, by permission, looked over the record of the pro- 
ceedings of this Court, which is kept by the clerk of the 
peace. Numerous cases against apprentices for petty 
theft, trespass, threatening language, and assault, were 
recorded in the decisions of the local magistrates. There 
were also numerous instances of complaints by European 
emigrants. These unfortunate, and too often dissi- 
pated people, have either died or left this neighbour- 
hood. While they remained, they appear to have given 
much trouble to the magistrates. In the same book 
belonging to the clerk of the petty sessions, was an ac- 
count of a coroner's inquest upon the body of an old 
man, who died about a year ago, in consequence of re- 
peated cruel floggings by a former supervisor of the 
workhouse. This supervisor was subsequently tried for 
the wilful murder of this man, and narrowly escaped 
conviction; the jury having been locked up for three 
days before they could agree upon a verdict. At a sub- 
sequent meeting of the vestry there were found two 
magistrates, who are still in the commission of the peace, 
capable of proposing and seconding that he should be 
retained in his situation, " as it was a first offence." 

During our stay in Lucea, we were hospitably enter- 
tained by John Stainsby, the Rector of the parish. He 



* Sir Lionel Smith, in his tour of the island, some weeks later than 
this, found a man in Lucea workhouse, who had been committed there 
merely for being without his free paper. The practice so abhorrent to 
every principle of justice of presuming a negro to be a slave, or, accord- 
ing to the new nomenclature, an apprentice, unless he can prove his 
•freedom, still continues. 



218 JAMAICA. 

IS one of those who has ever manifested a sympathy 
with the oppressed, and is consequently, together with 
other estimable clergymen of the establishment, deemed 
" worse than a Baptist." We had also the pleasure 
during our stay of making the acquaintance of J. H, 
Evelyn, of the Customs, a gentleman who has likewise 
in times past interfered to his cost in the vain attempt 
to check or expose colonial abuses. In the afternoon we 
proceeded to Savanna la Mar, in the parish of West- 
moreland. Hanover is a mountainous parish. The 
sides of the hills are yet, to a great extent, uncultivated ; 
the plains and valleys are occupied by cane-fields. West- 
moreland is of a different character, consisting chiefly 
of a plain of considerable extent, bounded on one side 
by the sea, and on the others by mountains. It is over- 
grown with thickets of the logv/ood and acacia, occa- 
sionally interspersed with sugar estates. We were over- 
taken in an early part of our journey to-day by the rain, 
which poured down in torrents for several hours. Many 
apprentices have mentioned their being compelled to 
work in the rain, to the destruction of their health, as a 
grievance to which they were not subjected before the 
introduction of the present system. We had now an 
opportunity of verifying the fact by our own observation. 
We passed midway on our journey by Glasgow estate, 
belonging to R. Wallace, M.P., for Greenock, and ob- 
served the gangs of negroes still at work in the field. 
On another large estate, the name of which we did not 
learn, the apprentices were still remaining in the field, 
sheltering themselves as they best could under the 
canes. 

9th. — We visited the workhouse this morning. The 
premises are small and confined. The supervisor, who 
appeared to be a humane man, informed us that there 
were seventy-six prisoners, of whom eight were life con- 
victs, and the rest apprehended runaways or apprentices 



JAMAICA, 219 

from estates. We arrived in time to see the penal gang 
collected, previously to being sent out to their daily 
labour. The greater number of both sexes were in 
chains, and all had iron collars. Among them were 
three females, with infants at the breast, who had each 
been committed to hard labour by the special magis- 
trate ; one for having three pints of sugar in her posses- 
sion; another for quarrelling with her sister; and the 
third, who was a non-predial, hired out, for not paying 
her weekly hire. In the last case, it is more than pro- 
bable that the offence was unavoidably created by her 
situation as a nursing mother. A history of past suf- 
ferings was legibly inscribed on the backs of many of 
the prisoners, who were almost in a state of nudity, in 
the scars of severe floggings. The supervisor told us 
that prison dresses were being made for them. The 
majority of the prisoners sleep in two very small apart- 
ments, which we saw soon after the prisoners had left 
them for the day; they were almost insufferable on 
account of their closeness. We saw here two women, 
named Sarah Nelson and Bessy Grant, from Phoenix 
Estate, in the parish of Hanover, and who were sent to 
this instead of their own workhouse, for the offence of 
being unable to execute the compulsory task-work im- 
posed upon them by the special magistrate. That func- 
tionary resides in the great house on Phoenix Estate, 
and the people complain that he coerces them without 
mercy.* This estate, also, belongs to a professedly 
liberal and religious proprietor. We were permitted to 
look over the files of the special magistrates' commit- 
ments, v/hich frequently consist of nothing more than 
lists of eight or ten apprentices, with their respective 
punishments affixed, without any mention whatever of 
complaints or offences. We saw two of the life con- 

♦ See Appendix, Sectioa iv., page 388. 



220 JAMAICA. 

victs, both of whom were condemned after the rebellion ' 
One of them, a very old man, assured us, that the only 
charge against him was his being a Baptist. The other 
was a fine young man, who is employed as a turnkey. 
The supervisor gave him an excellent character, and his 
countenance appeared to express both intelligence and 
integrity. The substance of his story, as related to us 
by himself, is as follows : — Before the rebellion, he and 
other negroes agreed that they would sit down after Christ- 
mas, and tell their masters they were free, but that they 
would willingly continue to work " for any small salary." 
They did so, but afterwards some of the ignorant ne- 
groes, refusing to listen to the more " sensible," began 
to set fire to the buildings, and to make war against the 
w^hite people. He tried in vain to check them; and 
when he heard they were searching for him to take his 
life, he ran away till the insurrection was over. He 
was then apprehended and condemned to the w^orkhouse 
for life. This account is quite in accordance with what 
is known of the origin of the insurrection. The negroes 
were encouraged to strike work, by the belief that the 
king had set them free, but that their masters were de- 
termined to retain them in bondage ; a delusion which 
was produced by the language which some of the 
planters held to the negroes, and by their conversations 
with each other in the presence of the negroes on the 
progress of the anti-slavery cause ; at the same time that 
the slaves on many estates were exasperated by in- 
creased oppressions and cruelties. This conduct can 
scarcely be explained on any other supposition than that 
of a determination to create a disturbance, which should 
check any tendency in the home Government unfavour- 
able to the continuance of unmitigated slavery. The 
disturbance soon, however, rose to an alarming height; 
a general panic spread among the whites, and the estates 
were abandoned to the insurgents, by whom property 



JAMAICA. 221 

was destroyed to an immense extent. Very few of the 
free inhabitants lost their Kves ; but at the courts mar- 
tial which immediately succeeded the insurrection, hun- 
dreds of negroes were sacrificed to the guilt, cowardice, 
and terror of the whites. Many were executed in 
parts of the island to which the disturbance never ex- 
tended, and among the victims were some whose sole 
or principal offence was that of their being Baptists or 
Methodists. The rebellion was charged upon the mis- 
sionaries, and was made the pretext of that violent 
persecution in which many xvere driven from the island, 
and their chapels destroyed, by men who held, and still 
retain, the King's commission as justices of the peace. 
The sequel to these memorable events was transacted 
in England. Some of the accused missionaries have 
published a " Narrative" of the events connected with 
their mission during the progress of the rebellion, 
and of the proceedings which immediately followed it. 
Their statement was extensively circulated ; and though 
it contains an exposure of the disgraceful means adopted 
to procure their crimination, and a great quantity of 
facts and evidence which fix the insurrection upon its 
real authors, yet the parties implicated, and their organs 
the island newspapers, have observed the most discreet 
silence respecting it, and still continue to designate the 
rebellion as "the Baptist war." The investigation of 
this subject is a matter of no slight interest at the pre- 
sent moment. Since the introduction of the present 
system, some leading persons in a certain district of the 
island made representations through a high legal func- 
tionary to the Governor, that their parishes were in a 
disturbed state, and requested that troops might be sent. 
By private inquiries. Lord Sligo ascertained that the 
apprentices were industrious and peaceable. There can 
be no doubt, however, that, goaded on by oppression, 
and alarmed by the presence of the military, they might 

u 3 



•222 JAMAICA. 

easily have been driven to such a general desertion of 
the estates as would have been styled a rebellion, and 
suppressed with the rigorous severities of martial law.* 

10th. — This morning we drove over to Paradise Pen, 
the residence of Thomas M'Neel, the custos of the 
parish, to whom we had several introductory letters. 
Although we found him very much occupied, he oblig- 
ingly gave up a part of the day to us. He has under his 
care many estates, including an apprentice population 
of 4000, of whom he observed that none give much 
trouble to the special magistrates. On all the estates 
the old allowances are continued, to the extent even of 
clothing and medical attendance for the free children. 
He stated to us, that he believed that in the parish ge- 
nerally things are going on as well as in any part of the 
island; a remark, however, which is not borne out by 
the crowded state of the workhouse at Savanna la Mar. 
The custos spoke strongly against the revolting practice 
of working male and female prisoners in the streets and 
roads in chains, and observed, that he had done all he 
could to discountenance it. He showed us several state- 
ments of the increase and decrease of negroes; from 
which it appeared, that on many of these estates, the 
births and deaths are as carefully registered as during 
slavery ; and that in the last eight or ten years there has 
been a slight increase of the population, even on some 
of the sugar plantations. We saw, also, among the ac- 

* More recently, on the occasion of Sir Lionel Smith's tour of the 
island, an anonymous letter was brought to him, which had been dropped 
in the parish of St. Elizabeth. It purported to be written by an appren- 
tice with the view of exciting insurrection, but was evidently the pro- 
duction of one but imperfectly acquainted with the dialect of the Creole 
negroes, in which it affected to be written. Should any disturbances 
unfortunately occur before the termination of the present system, we 
venture to predict that the chief blame will not belong to the negroes, 
who have shown themselves unequalled in the patient endurance of 
fraud and oppression. 



JAMAICA. 223 

counts of expenses, various annual donations, of from 
£2 to £10, to the head people for good conduct ; also 
accounts of the purchase of cattle from the apprentices. 
The most striking remark which he made to us on his 
mode of management was, that the white people on the 
estates required quite as much attention and oversight 
to keep them in their proper place, as the negroes. He 
accompanied us to visit the two estates of Lord Holland, 
On the first. Sweet River Pen, the people were receiving 
the weeklv distribution of salt fish. About fiftv of them 
came round the steps of the great house to converse with 
us, and inquired very eagerly whether we had seen Lord 
and Lady Holland before we left England, and desired 
their best respects to be given to them, saying they had 
always been very good to them. Their attorney wished 
them to explain what they intended to do after 1840. 
They replied, that they could not make any agreement 
till the time came, as the attorney might die if they 
made a bargain with him. They expressed great anxiety 
to know what was to be done respecting their houses and 
grounds, and said the uncertainty prevented their re- 
pairing or improving them. They said, that former times 
were bad enough ; the apprenticeship was better, as they 
could not be flogged by the driver ; but they wished they 
might be free immediately. One of their complaints 
was, that they had never seen their master, pointing at 
the same time to a very old negro, and intimating he 
had never seen his owner. They wished Lord Holland 
would send out " his piccaninny or his cousin," with 
whom they might talk about the terms upon which they 
should remain when free. As we were leaving, they 
preferred a request to their attorney, to exchange their 
half Friday for every alternate Friday, as their grounds 
were six miles distant. From Sweet River we proceeded 
to Friendship, a sugar estate belonging to Lord Holland. , 
Here, also, we saw and conversed with at least fifty or 



224 



JAMAICA. 



sixty of the people, in the presence of their attorney and 
the overseer. We did not find them very communicative. 
They said, however, that they had a kind master and 
mistress, (Lord and Lady Holland ;) and when free, which 
they wished might be to-morrow, they should be glad to 
remain on the estate and work for wages, rather than 
leave their houses and grounds to begin the world again. 
We asked them whether the special magistrate heard 
both sides fah'ly when they were brought before him. 
They replied that he would not let them speak ; in con- 
firmation of which the custos strongly condemned the 
conduct of some of the stipendiaries. As we were leav- 
ing the estate, a number of women surrounded the at- 
torney, and complained that their half Fridays had been 
taken away in crop, and not repaid them. He reminded 
them of the numerous indulgences they received, and 
said they must not reckon the time due to them with too 
much nicety. A noisy discussion ensued, the merits of 
which we could not understand ; but the deportment of 
the people was rude and discreditable. We visited the 
hospital, which is a building on stone pillars, well con- 
trived for its purposes, but dirty and out of repair. 
There was also near it a series of substantial stone penal 
cells, which we hope are now chiefly valued as building 
materials. The great house was untenanted. Its en- 
trance, as well as that on Paradise Pen, was graced by a 
small cannon. We walked through a part of the negro 
village. The houses were of an inferior description, but 
there were some pleasing evidences of the industry of 
the people in their gardens and plantain w^alks. The 
custos, though himself a large attorney, candidly attri- 
butes the greatest evils to the prevailing absenteeism, 
and to the influence of the merchants. He appears 
fully aware of the importance of keeping the era of com- 
plete freedom in view in his dealings with the appren- 
tices, and has encouraged those on his own estate by the 



JAMAICA. 225 

expectation of being set free a year before the time 
fixed by law. He expressed a wish to see estate schools 
generally established. Speaking of the increased value 
of property, he mentioned an estate, purchased eighteen 
months ago for £5000, for which £12,000 have recently 
been oiFered; and that he had bought seventeen slaves, 
in 1833, for £9 currency each, for every one of whom 
he had received at least £20 sterling compensation. 

11th. — We again visited the workhouse, to see the 
tread-mill in operation. Four men were first put upon 
it, whose wrists were as usual strapped to the hand-rail. 
The construction of this mill is so slight, and its cylinder 
of so small a diameter, that when the prisoners all 
stepped at once, their weight instantly increased its 
speedy so as to throw them all off. They were compelled 
to throw themselves into a sidelong posture, and take 
two or three steps at a time, in the most awkward and 
painful manner. The wheel then moved by jerks, 
quickly and slowly alternately. One young man of 
colour, who was put on for the first time, after many in- 
effectual attempts to catch the step, hung suspended by 
the wrists during the greater part of the time, the wheel 
revolving against his legs. His cries were most piercing : 
" I don't know what they sent me here for ; I have done 
nothing to be sent here." When he came off he ap- 
peared much exhausted. He told us that he was a car- 
penter on Grove Plain estate. The constable sent him 
to give an order to the gang, which he did, but they 
did not attend to it. The constable was sent by the 
overseer to repeat the order, with directions that if it 
were not complied with, the prisoner and the other 
people should be put in confinement. The constable, 
without repeating the order, locked him up at once. 
When released the next day, he asked the overseer what 
he had done to be locked up, for which he was taken 
before the special magistrate on a charge of insolence, 



226 JAMAICA. 

and sent to the workhouse and tread-mill for ten days. 
This account was subsequently confirmed to us by an 
apprentice from the same estate, with whom we had an 
opportunity of conversing. After the first spell was 
ended, the two women from Phoenix estate, whose case 
has been previously noticed, were put upon the mill. 
Being of lighter weight, the mill revolved more slowly, 
and they kept the step better, but were quite exhausted, 
and were in a profuse perspiration when the time had 
expired. The supervisor told us that the prisoners nearly 
always suffered in the manner above mentioned, when 
first put upon the mill. 

We saw this morning a woman named Mary Saunders, 
who had been sent to the workhouse under the following 
circumstances : — About a year ago, she was valued for 
nineteen pounds, and paid the money to special justice 
Phelp, who told her she was then free. Her master, 
however, dissatisfied with the amount, appealed to the 
Governor, and refused to receive the money. She there- 
fore obtained no acknowledgment, or " free paper," 
though she acted as her own m.istress. Tired at length 
of a state of uncertainty, she also appealed to the Gover- 
nor, on which the special magistrate issued his warrant, 
after she had been free for a year, and committed her 
to the workhouse as a runaway apprentice. She was 
at the time in daily expectation of her confinement, and 
had been delivered, two days before we saw her, of her 
tenth child. The supervisor appeared to have done all 
he could to palliate, by kind treatment, the inhumanity 
of the magistrate. 

In the course of the morning we attended the special 
magistrates' court. There were three present of the 
names of Phelp, Emery, and Oliver, of whom the first 
took the most prominent part in the proceedings. The 
first case was that of a runaway apprentice, complained 
of by his attorney, whose evidence was altogether hear- 



JAMAICA. 227 

say, as he did not reside on the estate himself. It was 
supported by that of the head constable. The presiding 
magistrate, to remove all doubts, after first browbeating 
the prisoner, put leading questions to him, which made 
him criminate himself. He was then sentenced for one 
month to the House of Correction. The same com- 
plainant next brought a charge against the head constable, 
for " disobedience of orders." He had been directed to 
bring to this Court a woman, who had been a runaway 
from the estate for a year and a-half. The constable 
said he had never seen her, and did not know where she 
was. The attorney replied, that it was his duty to pro- 
duce any of the gang when called for. The case was 
dismissed, the charge being too absurb even for a court 
like this to entertain. The brother of Mary Saunders 
now stepped forward, and asked why his sister had been 
sent to the workhouse ? He had witnesses to prove that 
the special magistrate (Phelp) told her she was free, 
and might go where she liked, at the time that he re- 
ceived the money. The same magistrate treated him 
very insolently, and said, that she had written a letter 
to the Governor, full of lies, about him, and that she was 
now committed as a runaway by the Governor's order.* 
He said he would not be called to account by every- 
body, and ordered the man out of Court. Subsequently, 
the custos entered the Court, and spoke to the magis- 
trates about this case. He had been one ot the local 

* Having the Governor's general permission to apply for information 
at the stipendiary magistrates' department in Spanish Town, we availed 
ourselves of it to obtain a sight of the official correspondence in this 
case ; and can therefore state, that this assertion of the magistrate was 
a total misrepresentation of the Governor's instructions in the case, and 
that the act of committal was entirely his own. The poor woman sub- 
sequently memorialised the Governor, but obtained no redress till she 
made a personal appeal to him, when he visited the workhouse on his 
tour round the island. He immediataly ordered her release. The 
magistrate, we believe, escaped without censure. 



228 JAMAICA. 

justices concerned in the original valuation, and felt 
himself somewhat implicated in the case. From the 
explanations which followed, it was apparent that the 
facts were as we have already stated them, and that the 
conduct of the special magistrate had been most grossly 
arbitrary and illegal. There were several cases of valu- 
ation. A sickly coloured child, about ten years old, 
was appraised at ten pounds, which was paid by her 
father, an overseer. A diminutive woman, valued as a 
predial apprentice, for thirty-four pounds; and, lastly, 
a tall, sickly, coloured man, applied to be appraised, 
who was by trade a cooper. His overseer swore that he 
could make three puncheons a week, and that his weekly 
labour was worth twenty shillings to the estate. The 
magistrate (Phelp) put leading questions to the witness, 
as, " He is a very valuable man, is he not ?" " You 
say he is a good workman ?" &c. The man pleaded 
that he was very sickly ; that he could do little but over- 
look others; and that if he worked himself for a few 
weeks, he was sometimes laid by for months afterwards. 
An overseer was brought forward by him as a witness, 
who had formerly lived on the property for seven years, 
and who confirmed all these statements. The doctor 
who had attended the estate during the last six months, 
was then called, who stated that the man had been 
under his care the whole time for ulcerated legs ; but 
he did not consider the sores habitual. The special 
magistrate, who is supposed to be especially intrusted in 
valuations with the interests of the apprentice, said to 
the two local magistrates associated with him, " What- 
ever you say, gentlemen, I shall be satisfied with." One 
of them appraised the man at seventy pounds, the other 
at forty-four pounds. The stipendiary wrote the two 
sums on paper, and added sixty pounds as his own esti- 
mate ; the average of which amounts fixed the value of 
the apprentice at fifty-eight pounds. We heard, subse- 



JAMAICA. 229 

queiitly, that this man had been severely flogged last 
week, by order of the special magistrate, which deter- 
mined him to obtain at any price his release from 
bondage. Several cases of runaways, and of apprentices 
charged with petty thefts of canes or sugar, were sub- 
sequently disposed of. The business of this Court was 
conducted in a manner and spirit, than which it is difS- 
cult to conceive any thing more objectionable. The 
custos, who was present during the subsequent part of 
the proceedings, felt called upon, though himself a 
planter, to reprove the special magistrate for omitting 
to inquire of the prisoners what they had to say in 
defence, and for inveigling them by his questions into 
self-crimination. 

We had the pleasure during our stay at Savanna la 
Mar, of seeing nearly all the Baptist missionaries in the 
island, who were assembled at the meeting of their an- 
nual association. It was truly a pleasure to us to meet 
again some of these estimable men, and to make the 
acquaintance of others whom we had not previously 
known. We availed ourselves of the opportunity to ob- 
tain from them some statistical information relative to 
the state of education in connexion with their congrega- 
tions.* They also addressed to us the following letter 
on the subject of the apprenticeship :-— 

'^ Savanna la Mar, March lOth, 1837. 
" Gentlemen, — It is with feelings of sincere pleasure 
that we welcome you to the shores of Jamaica, more 
especially on account of the generous and benevolent 
object of your mission. Several of us have laboured in 
this island for many years, and have witnessed the 
horrors of slavery, and the oppressions and sufferings of 
the slaves. We lent our feeble efforts, with the thou- 

* See x\ppendix, Section viii., page 446. 



'230 



JAMAICA. 



sands of British Christians in England, to accomplish the 
destruction of the cruel system, and sincerely rejoiced in 
the passing of that Act which professed to abolish slavery 
in every part of the British West Indies; though we 
deeply regretted the intermediate state of apprenticeship 
decided upon by the Imperial Parliament, and have 
viewed with intense interest the working of that system, 
during the two years and a half that have elapsed. We 
feel ourselves called upon to declare to you our firm 
conviction, that the apprentices have conducted them- 
selves in the most tranquil and peaceable manner, and 
have shown every disposition to be industrious where 
encouragement has been afforded them by fair and equi- 
table remuneration, and where they have not been pro- 
voked by vexatious annoyances. 

" We cannot refrain from expressing our deliberate 
opinion of the total unfitness of the apprenticeship sys- 
tem as an act of preparation for freedom ; and that it is 
to the unparalleled patience of the apprentices, and not 
to its tolerant spirit, that the present peaceful and pros- 
perous state of the island is attributable. To you we 
unhesitatingly declare our belief, that this mockery of 
freedom is worthless as a preparation for that state to 
which it can have no possible affinity ; that while it re- 
presses the energy of the negro, it has rendered him 
distrustful of the British public, by whom he considers 
himself to have been cheated by a name; that it has 
entailed, and is still entailing, excessive suffering, espe- 
cially on the mother and her helpless and unavoidably 
neglected offspring ; and that, to secure its termination, 
no effort can be considered too great. We do, there- 
fore, most earnestly entreat you, on your return to your 
native land, to exert your influence to effect the total 
abandonment of this system in 1838; but if every effort 
fail in procuring the abolition of the term of apprentice- 
ship to the predial apprentices, that those advantages 
may at least be secured to them, to which they are en- 



JAMAICA, 231 

titled hy the provisions, imperfect as they are, of the Act 
for the Abolition of Slavery. 

"We further urge you to watch with vigilance any 
law which may be introduced in the Imperial Parlia- 
ment, or passed by any of the colonial legislatures, to 
curtail the liberty of the negro after the termination of 
the present system; and any enactments of a restrictive 
and oppressive nature calculated to keep them more 
degraded than any others of their fellow-subjects for one 
moment beyond that period. 

" Your own observations in this Colony must, we think, 
have convinced you, that the costly arpparatus by which 
it was intended to secure a measure of protection to the 
negro, is, in many instances, made instrumental in carry- 
ing on a system of coercion and oppression, as odious 
as that from which he was intended to be freed. 

" We cannot but express our regret at the apathy 
manifested of late by some of those friends in England, 
who so long and so zealously exerted themselves in be- 
half of the injured sons and daughters of Africa, and 
must consider that the responsibility rests on them, who 
Mve the power to obtain justice for this still injured 
people, for any consequences that may take place. 
Meanwhile we shall continue to exert our influence to 
tranquillise their minds under every disappointment, 
and to induce them to bear with patience the wrongs 
they are called upon to suffer. 
" We are. Gentlemen, 

" With much esteem and respect, 
"Joshua Tinson, 
" James M. Phillipo, Thomas F. Abbott, 

Thomas Burchell, Walter Dendy, 

William Knibb, John Kingdon, 

Henry C. Taylor, Benjamin B. Dexter, 

John Clarke, John Hutchins, 

Francis Gardner, John Clark, 

William Whitehorne, Samuel Oughton." 



232 JAMAICA. 

The preceding letter, signed by all the Baptist mission- 
aries in the island, is addressed through us to the British 
anti-slavery public, to whose attention we earnestly recom- 
mend its important contents, which express the deliberate 
and well-considered sentiments of men, who, of all others, 
are the best qualified to form an unprejudiced judgment 
of the condition of the negroes under the apprenticeship, 
and of their capacity for a true appreciation of the bless- 
ings of freedom. The testimony which it bears to the 
abuses of the existing system is the result of painful, 
personal observation ; and is but a reiteration of a similar 
and even still stronger statement forwarded last year by 
six of the same missionaries to the Secretary of their 
Board in London ; and which, it is much to be regretted, 
was not published, as was doubtless the intention of its 
writers. 

In the course of the day we saw a negro from Glas- 
gow estate, the property of R. Wallace, M. P. for 
Greenock, whose affecting narration is inserted here, as 
a further illustration of the present state of negro slavery 
in Jamaica. In the Appendix will be found a state- 
ment* of the same negro to a gentlemen resident in the 
Colony, which corresponds with the subjoined relation of 
the sufferings of himself and his fellow-apprentices. We 
are quite willing to believe that the proprietor of this 
estate has been kept in ignorance of the treatment of his 
negroes ; and it is not without great regret that we bring 
these facts under his notice and that of the public in the 
present manner ; but we are strongly impressed with the 
conviction, that there are no estates more oppressively 
and even cruelly managed, than those of many liberal, 
humane, and even religious proprietors resident in Eng- 
land. 

Statement of Cyrus Wallace, an apprentice from Glas- 
gow estate : — " The old living before was better than 

* See Appendix, Section iv., page 388. 



JAMAICA. 



^33 



a complaint, we are punished for it when the magistrate 
come upon the estate. We are obliged to work on our 
Fridays and Saturdays. The magistrate threaten we 
and make we consent ; he say, ' If any person deny 
working on Saturday, bring them down to the Bay, and 
I shall cat them.' About four weeks ago, on a Friday, 
shell-blow^, the busha (overseer) ordered the gang to 
work the next day, (Saturday.) I say, I can't work, be- 
cause I have a pain in my back, and want to take a dose 
of salts, as it is my own day. The constable said, if I 
would not make the fire (throughout the day at the boil- 
ing-house) he would lock me up. I asked him to take 
me to the busha, who said I should be locked up, and to- 
morrow be taken down to the Bay to be catted. I 
was locked up that night (Friday) in my wet clothes, 
and all the next day without food or water ; and when I 
was let out, it was so late I could not go to my own house, 
but was obliged to lie down on the floor of the hospital : 
I was not brought before the magistrate. The constable 
(driver) lock you up when him like; the book-keeper 
lock you up when him like ; when the busha come, they 
tell him, and he fasten you in the dark hole better. 
When the magistrate come on the property, they bring 
you before him, and he know all about you before you 
come. If you offer to speak for yourself, he hold his fin- 
ger and say, ' Not a word.' Mr. Wallace property worse 
than any property in the parish ; every property better 
than we. If any person was to say, hem, in the field, the 
constable take and lock you up ; and if the magistrate don't 
send you to dance the tread-mill, he send you to be cat, 
(flogged.) There are four men put down to get cat. 
We don't know what we do. Busha, where I working, 
he come there, and why the reason make him sure he 
get me cat ; I work three Saturdays, and no pay and no 
day. I went up to him, and tell him I w^ant a day. He 
says, ' Devil a day you get.' I said, I must have a day, 

X 3 



234 JAMAICA. 

says, « Devil a day you get.' I said, I must have a day, 
I lose too much day ; you take away three day from me, 
and this is four. He says, « You were at the boiling- 
house stealing sugar.' I says, me, sir ? I would not do 
that, because I know the property that I live upon, and 
would not make fool of myself. When he tell me he 
won't give me the day, I go away and take one day. He 
would not pay me, and I was in need. He told me, 
' You went and took day yesterday.' I said, yes, sir. He 
said, ' Now you may be sure, so help me God, that you'll 
get cat.' The magistrate has not yet been on the pro- 
perty ; but whenever he does come, the day he comes, I 
get it. He does whatever busha tell him. They give 
more flogging now than when we were slave. Before, 
when they had the power of we, they overlook little thing ; 
not now. After crop we are continually obliged to watch 
(at night, by turn) and get no pay. Only those that 
watch get their six herrings every Monday; and those 
that won't watch get nothing. We don't get any pay for 
our half Fridays. The busha makes us work on Satur- 
day when he likes, by taking us before the magistrate. 
Sometimes we get every other Saturday. When we have 
worked out four or five Saturdays, according to the magis- 
trate's order, he send for the magistrate again, and say, we 
don't turn out soon, though we turn out at daylight. Since 
the law came in we have had only about half our Satur- 
days. We turn out to work at daylight, and are allowed 
half an hour for breakfast ; they promise we an hour and 
a half for dinner. When plenty of gentlemen come upon 
the property, we get an hour and a half; but when no- 
body come, the shell-blow again, before we can well 
catch a we house (i. e. the signal is heard for their return 
to the field almost before they have had time to reach 
their houses, much less to despatch their dinners.) We 
looking to all our neighbours and they not so. W^e never 
draw off till dark; all will not satisfy. Massa think, 
perhaps, I tell him lie ; but take me off the property. 



JAMAICA. 235 

and bring the naagistrate, the overseer, the book-keeper, 
and the constable, and I would beg massa the favour to 
put the Bible before me, (put me on my oath.) In crop 
we set to work on Monday, and put the mill about at 
four o'clock. I am employed one time making fire, and 
another time in the boiling-house. They expect we to 
boil twelve coppers and twelve skips of liquor. The mill- 
house people (feeders of the mill, and carriers of cane 
and green-trash) work one whole day fand if they are not 
able to finish they work all night. If they get done once 
before night, when they have good canes, they are not 
able to do it again for two or three weeks, when they 
have dry canes. Next day they go into the field, and 
another fresh spell work the same. The mill-house 
people will generally finish by the middle of the Saturday 
night ; but, we in the boiling-house, are employed till 
daylight on Sunday morning. Not long ago the mill was 
about till after mid-day on Sunday. The boiling-house 
people work all night long ; sometimes they are in the boil- 
ing-house from Monday morning till Sunday morning. 
When the mill stop (for a few minutes) from sending 
liquor, you get a little sleep, then when it send down 
more liquor you budge again. The mule boys, like the 
boiling-house people, get no sleep. This is a thing we 
never were used to do. They put too much upon we. 
We get nothing for our nights. We get a maccaroni 
(one and eightpence) for the extra time the first four 
days ; tenpence for our half Friday, and half dollar for 
Saturday. If we don't able to make the twelve copper, 
we get three bitts for Saturday (one shilling and ten- 
pence halfpenny.) When we meet good cane we make 
it, (the twelve coppers ;) but when we meet dry cane, we 
don't make it, and yet they require it from we. Every 
little they pay we obliged to go for our belly. We have 
no grounds but a bit of garden about our house, and to 
this there is no fence : the cattle get into it night and day. 



236 JAMAICA. 

No gentleman so much fine woodland as massa ; but we 
no time to work it. We were obliged to throw up our 
old grounds, because the neighbours' cattle trespassed in 
it. It is now common pasture. Before the first of 
August we had a fence to our old grounds ; but since, 
we have had no time to put it up again. We used to have 
a watchman for our grounds, but now we have none. We 
heard magistrate say, if we won't watch cattle-pen, the 
watchman should be taken from our ground ; but, if we 
would consent to watch the cattle, we should have a 
watchman for our ground; but busha take away our 
watchman, and we continue to watch the cattle. Sunday 
we used to attend church; but now, when we have nothing 
to eat, no Friday nor Saturday, what time else for to cook 
victual. We have no time to go to church. On Sunday 
we take we hoe, and pick about a little, for we to eat 
through the week. We have nobody to lean upon, and 
so we do every thing busha tell us on purpose to see if we 
can get living with him, but he get worse and worse every 
day. We get our salt (herrings) very seldom ; now we get 
none. We are worse off than before the first of August. 
We are all broken heart ; getting old before our time. 
If we go into the hospital we wish never to come out 
again. From morning daylight they swear and curse 
upon we till shell-blow. If the parson (one of the Scot- 
tish missionaries) were not there to tell us good word, we 
should lie down like cattle in the pasture. Last week 
four people have been put in the dark room every night 
without magistrate's order. Men and women are put 
together in one dark room. One young girl was put in 
for three nights, because, when the book-keeper cursed 
her sister, she asked him, ' What for curse her sister ?' 
The hot-house is an ugly dirty place. When the Hano- 
ver magistrate, Mr. Odell, came, he quarrel much about 
it, and said it was a hog place. Massa, this is not all : 
it is more than what I can tell, I am obliged to forget." 



JAMAICA. 237 

13th. — A few days ago we received from George Gor- 
don, a gentleman who has the control of many estates, 
and who is esteemed one of the most judicious and 
humane planters in the island, an invitation to visit the 
properties under his care. We this morning availed 
ourselves of his general permission, and drove over to 
Meylersfield estate. We saw there a negro who had 
been punished, though apparently riot with severity, to 
the extent of twenty-five stripes, by order of the special 
magistrate. He had been guilty of stealing sugar from 
the boiling-house. The overseer showed us over the 
works, A catechist attends twice a week to teach the 
negroes, but his instructions are attended by few of the 
free children. Four of the latter have been apprenticed 
by their mothers to the estate till twenty-one years of 
age, which are the first instances of the kind that have 
come to our knowledge. 

During our stay at Savanna la Mar we saw and con- 
versed with a great number of apprentices from the 
estates, and made memoranda of their statements.* Al- 
though each of these might be separately considered as 
ex parte, yet the uniformity of complaint is so marked 
as to leave no doubt of their substantial truth. The 
principal grievances are such as we have repeatedly 
enumerated; their being deprived of former allowances 
and privileges ; being defrauded of their time in and 
out of crop ; the enforcement of compulsory task-work ; 
the habitual use by overseers of illegal punishments; and 
general ill-treatment by overseers and special magis- 
trates. The conviction is forced upon us, that in this 
part of the island, upon the majority of estates, the worst 
abuses of slavery, including the aggravated oppression of 
excessive night-work during crop, still exist in an un- 
mitigated form. We left Savanna la Mar in the after- 

* See Appendix, Section iv., page 388. 



238 JAMAICA. 

noon for Hopeton, the residence of Hutchinson M. Scott, 

accompanied by M'Murray, one of the agents of 

the Mico Institution, who was going by the same route 
to his principal station in the interior. Hopeton is in 
the mountains on the border of the parishes of West- 
moreland and Elizabeth. We were very hospitably and 
kindly received. In the evening most of the free 
children and many of the apprentices attended the 
family worship at the great house. Some came also 
from the Bog, a neighbouring sugar estate. 

14th. — We had the pleasure this morning of being 
introduced to two of the Moravian missionaries, who 
have a station about a mile distant from Hopeton. 
Their church, which holds 900 persons, is too small for 
their congregation. The prosperity of their mission in 
this neighbourhood is to be attributed in part to the 
zealous co-operation of the Hopeton family, but chiefly 
perhaps to the persecutions many of their members have 
had to sustain, before the introduction of the appren- 
ticeship, from their overseers or proprietors. Some 
striking instances were related to us of the stedfast and 
consistent lives of the Christian negroes. One of them, 
who is a native African, and still an apprentice, was 
described as very successful in bringing numbers of his 
ignorant and degraded brethren to a knowledge of the 
Gospel. A large number of the apprentices as well as 
the free children attended the family worship this 
morning. Some of the bog negroes also took advantage 
of their breakfast time to run to Hopeton to attend it. 
We were introduced afterwards to William Hamilton, a 
man of colour, who is now the overseer of Lenox, the 
sugar estate adjoining Hopeton, and belonging to the 
same proprietor. He was formerly a slave on the bog, 
and purchased his freedom soon after the introduction 
of the apprenticeship. Though self-educated, he is evi- 
dently a person of an intelligent and reflecting mind, 



JAMAICA. 239 

which has been improved by reading, and disciplined by 
a life of adversity such as rarely falls even to the lot of 
a slave. 

We afterwards visited the school on Hopeton. It is 
supported at the expense of a proprietor, superintended 
by a young man and his wife, two excellent and com- 
petent persons, sent out from England by the " Ladies' 
Society." There were about eighty children present, of 
whom forty were free children or apprentices from 
Hopeton and Lenox, thirty free children from the Bog, 
and several the offspring of free parents. They were 
examined by their teacher, and showed great proficiency 
in reading and arithmetic, and answered Scripture ques- 
tions with great readiness. All the scholars are clothed, 
and in a great measure fed by their kind patroness, the 
lady of H. M. Scott. It is a rule that all shall labour 
during certain hours, when some of the elder children 
turn out into the field with their little hoes, and others 
go into the carpenter's shop. The little ones are em- 
ployed to pick stones off the ground or to carry cedar 
shingles. The girls of suitable age remain in school to 
learn needlework. They work with the same cheerful- 
ness with which they learn. This is the first instance 
we have met with of free children working on an estate: 
for not only do the free children of the apprentices on 
Hopeton and Lenox thus apply themselves to labour, 
but the free children from a neighbouring estate and 
even the children of free parents. On these estates the 
evils of slavery have, we believe, been mitigated to a 
greater extent than on any others in Jamaica, and that 
not only by increasing the comforts of the negroes, but 
by an anxious attention to their moral and religious wel- 
fare. Every ameliorating provision in the Abolition Act 
was introduced many years before 1834, and the intro- 
duction of the apprenticeship involved no change of sys- 
tem. Night- work during crop had long been abolished, 



240 JAMAICA. 

and the allowances of food and clothing were on the 
most liberal scale. The conduct of the Hopeton family 
towards their slaves has been marked by its disinterest- 
edness. The proprietor voluntarily relinquished those 
forced methods of cultivation which have proved so 
destructive of human life on other sugar estates. With 
what success, his system, so opposite to that generally 
adopted, has been pursued, may be imperfectly learned 
from the tables of the increase and decrease of popula- 
tion on the Hopeton and Lenox estates. In 1817, there 
were 291 slaves, including fifty-six under ten years of 
age; in 1832, 315, including eighty-three under ten 
years.* The proprietor is accustomed to employ his 
own people and all others who apply, to work in their 
own time for wages. None who are willing to work are 
sent away. Even young children and infirm people are 
employed and remunerated in proportion to their ability. 
He is at present engaged in making extensive altera- 
tions in his house solely by free labour. Before the 
apprenticeship, as was observed to us, it was never con- 

* Much valuable information respecting his mode of management is 
contained in the evidence given in December 1833, by H. M. Scott, to a 
** Committee of the Assembly appointed to inquire into the moral and 
religious improvement of the slaves." He observes, ** that his property 
is exclusively conducted by slaves. Keys of stores containing large 
stocks of rum and sugar are at this moment committed to the custody 
of a servant liberated recently." And again, " A generally received 
opinion, that the culture of canes is necessarily hostile to human life, 
seems destitute of any solid foundation ; it is contingent, not inherent, 
when it becomes so. Where in the circle of the globe shall we find an 
object of culture which contributes so largely to the direct sustenance of 
the labourer, and at the same time almost entirely supports every animal 
employed in the cultivation of it ; or one that returns more to the soil in 
manure, while it supplies a redundance of fuel for the manufacture of 
sugar when it is not destroyed by ill-constructed machinery ? Nothing 
then is wanting to make the cane what a beneficent Creator designed 
it to be — one of his chosen gifts to a man — but the regulations of an 
enlightened Government, with some salutary check on the cupidity of 
the cultivator." 



JAMAICA. 241 

templated to perform any work but by the labour of 
their own slaves. Now the negroes are found to be glad 
to work for wages, and there is much less trouble and 
more satisfaction in employing them as free labourers. 

In the evening we had the opportunity of conversing 
with William Hamilton, whose history has recently 
excited public attention, in consequence of circumstances 
which are elsewhere alluded to.* Soon after the first of 
August, he purchased his freedom by valuation for two 
hundred and nine pounds; and has since been employed 
as the overseer of the Lenox estate. He has recently 
purchased seventy acres of land for himself, on which he 
observed, " I employ as many labourers as I can get, and 
I find the free negroes work far better and more cheer- 
fully than the apprentices, and give more satisfaction. 
The negroes will do any thing for money. On Lenox 
estate the task is 104 cane-holes a day. They will 
occasionally do two days' work in one, or more frequently 
three days' work in two, and work for money on the 
leisure day." His testimony as to the effect of slavery 
on the free classes is equally striking : " In consequence 
of labour having hitherto been considered a degi-adation, 
many of the free coloured people will stand a poor chance, 
(after 1840,) in competition with the best disposed 
and most industrious apprentices, which is the reason 
that they are so hostile to Emancipation, as they see 
plainly that some of the negroes will rise above them. 
There are many who have only two or three apprentices, 
upon whose labour they chiefly subsist, and fall them- 
selves in consequence into idle habits and drunkenness." 
In the course of the day J. Sturge proceeded to Black 
River, which is the town and port of St. Elizabeth's, 
where he visited the goal and workhouse. There were 
about fifty inmates, of whDm six were life convicts. The 

* See Appendix, Section ix., page 447. 
Y 



'242 JAMAICA. 

tread-mill is one of English construction. The prisoners 
sentenced to this punishment are put upon it for half an 
hour three times a day, a punishment probably less severe 
than a single spell of ten minutes' length, on some of the 
tread-mills in the other workhouses. He also visited the 
Rector of the parish, attached to whose living is a pen 
or glebe, and a number of apprentices. In 1820, the 
number of slaves was sixty-five; at the present time 
there are about 110 apprentices and their children. 
This is, therefore, another conspicuous instance of the 
effects of kind treatment. The people are allowed one 
day in the week in addition to the time legally due to 
them, in lieu of all allowances ; an arrangement satis- 
factory and profitable to both parties. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



JAMAICA. 

MANCHESTER, CLARENDON, SPANISH TOWN, AND KINGSTON. 

3rd Month, Ibth, {March) 1837. 

We took leave this morning of the hospitable family 
at Hope ton. Their residence is situated about 2000 
feet above the level of the sea, and possesses a very fine 
climate. The mountain scenery on every side is grand 
and beautiful. We left at an early hour, accompanied by 

M'Murray, who was proceeding to his residence, 

at Comfort, in the parish of Manchester. Our first stage 
was Holland estate, in St. Elizabeth, the property of 
Robert Gladstone, where we stayed breakfast. It is a very 
fine estate with a large number of apprentices. During 
slavery the numbers rapidly declined, but are now sup- 
posed to be stationary. The estate school and the allow- 
ances of the free children have been discontinued in 
consequence, as the book-keeper informed us, of the 
children refusing to give one or two days' labour in the 
week in return. We left this property about eleven 
A. M., and called on our way at a Mico school by the 
road-side, which has been recently established. There 
were seventy children present, who were eating their 
" second breakfast," of cold boiled yams and cocoas, of 
which their parents had supplied them with a very 
abundant meal. We afterwards heard a class of intelli- 
gent little girls read and answer questions. The master, 
a coloured man, was formerly the teacher of the Holland 



244 JAMAICA. 

estate school. He told us it had been discontinued 
because the attorney was " dissatisfied with the work of 
the parent, and thought they did not behave as they 
should, considering their privileges." It is not without 
reason that the negroes suspect that their proprietors and 
overseers, in proposals made apparently for their benefit, 
have some ulterior object in view. We subsequently 
called at Wilton, the residence of Hylton, an es- 
timable clergyman of the establishment. We visited a 
little Mico school, held on the premises, where thirty or 
forty children were collected. It had only recently been 
formed, but the scholars were in good order, and ap- 
peared to have already made some progress. We arrived 
at Comfort late in the evening. 

16th. — This morning we visited the schools, which are 
held in wattled structures of the simplest and cheapest 
kind. The girls' school, which vras taught by a coloured 
young woman, was in excellent discipline. We heard 
the principal class read, and the whole school answer 
Scripture questions. Some of the scholars were parti- 
cularly clever and intelligent. The boys' school was in 
a like satisfactory condition. Before Christmas the 
children were required to make a weekly payment 
of fivepence, which has since been discontinued, and 
the attendance has in consequence increased from 
40 to 160. We afterwards saw the boys at breakfast. 
The children at this school bring their yams and 
other roots to be cooked for them at the institution. 
When ready, their meal is laid on a cloth in the 
middle of the floor. One of the elder boys portions 
it out with a knife, the children bringing their tins, 
or little baskets, one by one, till all are served, when 
grace is said, and the meal commenced. Sometimes 
children come without food ; in which case, the others 
always manifest the utmost willingness to share with 
them. We afterwards rode over to Fairfield, the prin- 



JAMAICA. '245 

cipal station of the United Brethren, passing on our 
way through Spurtree, a large pen, on which there are 
about three hundred apprentices. We observed, in the 
negro grounds, a considerable number of tombs, all 
neatly constructed, and many of them recently white- 
washed. Some were ornamented with carved figures of 
idols. On this, and several other adjacent properties, a 
night school is held once or twice a week, by the super- 
intendent of the Mico institution at Comfort, or one of 
his assistants. The parish of Manchester is of great 
extent, and very mountainous. It is chiefly occupied 
by pens and coffee plantations. It has only one spring 
of fresh water, and the effects of the present long period 
of drought are in consequence severely felt. From the 
ridge which we crossed to Fairfield we had a fine view 
of the parish of St. Elizabeth, through which we passed 
yesterday. Part of it is a . level savanna, many square 
miles in extent, bounded by lofty hills. The alluvial 
plain is occupied by sugar estates and pens, and the 
light verdure of the cane-fields forms a beautiful con- 
trast with the depth of the intervening pastures of Guinea- 
grass. At Fairfield we were introduced to two of the 
brethren and their wives. We visited the Refuge, an 
institution established for the reception of coloured 
orphan girls. We had not the pleasure of examining 
the children in any of their school exercises, but they 
appeared to be in exact order, and under the care of a 
competent mistress. They are twenty-five in number, 
of whom two were among a cargo of African slaves, 
taken out of a small vessel, which was wrecked on the 
coast of Jamaica during the administration of Lord 
Mulgrave. They were named Kitty and Susan Mul- 
grave, after the Countess of Mulgrave, w^ho took them 
under her own protection, and placed them at the 
Refuge for education and maintenance when she left 
the island. The eldest of them is so far advanced in 

Y 3 



246 JAMAICA. 

learning, as to take a part in teaching one of the 
schools supported by the " Ladies' Society." The child- 
ren at the Refuge are at present brought up with a 
view of their beconaing teachers, but when that class is 
sufficiently numerous, they will be placed out as domestic 
servants. The expense of supporting each child is 
about ten pounds sterling per annum, but the funds of 
the institution are so limited, that its directors have 
been recently compelled to use money raised to defray 
the cost of building a suitable school-room, for the sup- 
port of the children. It is worthy of more liberal 
assistance, as in the present state of society in Jamaica, 
it presents almost the only means of rescuing coloured 
orphan girls from a life of profligacy. There are many 
schools in the parishes of Manchester, St. Elizabeth, 
and Westmoreland, under the superintendence of the 
United Brethren, of which the only one we have seen 
is the excellent school on Hopeton before mentioned. 
Of the state of the other schools we are unable to speak 
from observation, but a statistical account of them, as 
well as of their congregations, has been obHgingly sup- 
plied by Brother Zorn, the superintendent of their mis- 
sion, which will be found in the Appendix.* The 
Mico institution at Comfort promises to be an invalu- 
able institution, as the labours of its agents will be 
expended among a people who have been hitherto 
neglected. Their establishment is situated at a con- 
siderable elevation, with a Bay called Alligator Pond 
for its sea front, twelve miles distant. The intervening 
country on the right hand is an extensive savanna, 
formed by the gradual slope of a range of hills. It is 
studded with numerous locations of free brown settlers, 
who are coffee planters, many of whom cultivate patches 
of land, merely sufficient to serve as cover for the 

* See Appendix, Section x., page 450. 



JAMAICA. 247 

purchase and sale of stolen produce from the larger 
plantations. They are generally owners of two or three 
apprentices, and are very great oppressors, being ex- 
tremely degraded, ignorant, and debauched. Their 
jealousy frequently prevents them from allowing the 
free children of their apprentices to attend the school 
at Comfort, while they refuse to send their own, be- 
cause no difference is made between the brown and 
black children. In the parishes of Manchester and St. 
Elizabeth, the resident proprietors are more numerous 
than in other parts of the island ; they are also generally 
married, and some of them and their families are per- 
sons of religious character. The only mission stations 
are those of the United Brethren, who, though their 
churches comprise numerous bright and lively examples 
of personal piety, do not appear to have pursued a 
system sufficiently aggressive to make much impression 
on the general mass. We are credibly informed, by 
various persons acquainted with their state, that the 
negroes generally in this part of the island are more 
ignorant and unenlightened than elsewhere. During 
our brief stay in these parishes, we had little oppor- 
tunity of ascertaining the physical condition of the 
negroes, except that one gentleman in St. Elizabeth's, 
on whom we called, informed us that a neighbouring 
planter, who was also a magistrate, never suffered his 
people to leave the field till after dark, and that it was 
evident, by the morning and evening shell-blows, that 
he and others defrauded them of much of their time. 

17th. — We took leave of our hospitable friends at 
Comfort, and proceeded to Mandeville, a little town, 
delightfully situated amidst the Manchester mountains. 
We visited the v/orkhouse, but were told by the super- 
visor, that no visitor could be admitted without an order 
from a magistrate. The only magistrate residing in the 
vicinity was absent from home. He told us, that a short 



248 JAMAICA. 

time before, " some sectarian parsons had come and 
talked to the prisoners unknown to him, and that five 
of the life convicts broke prison afterwards." On our 
making further inquiries, he added, that he did not 
mean to say they broke out in consequence of any thing 
the missionaries said to them, and that it was a convict 
driver or turnkey who had escaped, and carried the 
other four prisoners along with him. On leaving Man- 
deville we called on our way at the house of a young 
man, who was sent out two years ago as a schoolmaster 
and catechist, with the London Society's missionaries. 
He informed us, that the order which had excluded us 
from the prison was made in consequence of himself 
and two of the missionaries having gone to see an 
apprentice, a member of one of their churches, who had 
been recently flogged and sent to the workhouse, on a 
fictitious charge, brought forward in consequence of his 
giving notice to be valued, because his master wished to 
remove him from one estate to another, many miles 
distant from his home and family. They had shaken 
him by the hand, and given him some words of com- 
fort, and the deputy supervisor was standing by while 
they spoke to him. 

One of the London missionaries comes over every 
fortnight to Mandeville to preach. Theijr school at this 
station is large and flourishing. It has been formed 
about a year, and few of the children knew their letters 
at the commencement. We now heard a class of them 
read in the Testament. The little negroes pay pretty 
regularly twopency halfpenny per week, which is the 
smallest coin in Jamaica. There are also some coloured 
children of free parents, who pay one shilling and eight- 
pence per week. As this part of the island is nearly 
destitute of other means, the efforts of the London mis- 
sionaries, to extend education and religious instruction, 
are likely to be peculiarly useful. We arrived in the 



JAMAICA. 249 

evening at Porus in Clarendon, the station of W. Slayter, 
one of the London missionaries. He accompanied us to 
Whitney, an estate in the neighbouring mountains, 
belonging to Lord Ward. It is, in point of scenery, one 
of the most beautiful we have seen, being perfectly level, 
and surrounded by a complete circle of hills. It ap- 
peared as if it had once been the bed of a lake, or rather 
was the bottom of an immense crater, whose innermost 
sides were covered with native forest. The overseer re- 
ceived us politely, and at our request showed us the 
hospital. We found it locked, and waited till the key 
was fetched. There were in it two patients. It was 
very clean, having been recently whitewashed. The 
dark room was locked, but the overseer sent for the key. 
When it was opened, the light from the door just sufficed 
to show that there was some one within. On being 
called, a woman came out, who was asked by the over- 
seer who sent her ? She replied, " The book-keeper." 
" What for ?" " I have done nothing. Sir : the book- 
keeper said I was laughing." The overseer said some- 
thing about the book-keeper s " stretch of authority," 
and ordered the woman to follow us to the boiling-house. 
He asked the book-keeper why she had been sent, and 
charged him with an undue exercise of power. The 
book-keeper said, " You ordered me. Sir, to lock up the 
people for disobedience of orders." He could not, 
however, explain of what the apprentice had been guilty, 
while she asserted that he had called her obscene names, 
which he did not deny. We afterwards ascertained that 
locking-up is a frequent punishment on this estate,* and 
it was evident that the book-keeper had not exceeded 
the common usages on this occasion. By this unex- 
pected occurrence we became eye-witnesses of a common 

* We have a list of eight apprentices who were punished in this way, 
without any order from a magistrate, by this overseer, in the short space 
of one week. 



250 JAMAICA. 

species of punishment, which is legally practised on this 
estate to a great extent, without any reference to the 
special magistrate. 

18th. — We left Porus this morning for Four Paths, in 
the interior of the parish of Clarendon, the residence of 
W. G. Barrett, another of the Independent Missionaries. 
We attended the special magistrates' Court, which is 
held here once a fortnight. There were several over- 
seers present, some of whom were local magistrates. 
Notice was given by four or five apprentices to be valued 
at a future court. Two were valued to-day. The first 
was a woman, named Elizabeth Francis, whose owner, 
a man of colour, swore she was worth two shillings and 
sixpence per day. Two overseers appraised her at the 
same amount. The woman herself and her husband 
both pleaded that she was sickly, and not able to work 
regularly. In the course of the proceedings, it inci- 
dentally appeared that the woman was accustomed, till 
recently, to work out for hire as a domestic, a circum- 
stance which made it evident she w^as a non-predial. 
This conclusion was, however, carefully avoided, and 
the poor people were too ignorant of their own rights to 
be aware of the importance of the distinction. Her hus- 
band wished to give evidence to the state of her health, 
but one of the local magistrates silenced him by saying, 
" Ar'nt you going to advance the money ? We don't 
want your evidence : " although they had taken the evi- 
dence on oath of her master, a person equally interested 
on the other side. She was valued as a predial for sixty- 
three pounds. The next valuation was of a predial 
apprentice, named Thomas Brown, who, though a much 
stronger and more able negro, was also rated at two 
shillings and sixpence per day, or sixty-five pounds for 
his remaining term of apprenticeship. His case, how- 
ever, was only comparatively less unjust than the pre- 
ceding, as a coffee planter in the neighbourhood told us 



JAMAICA. 251 

he could procure as much labour as he wanted at one 
shilling and eightpence per day. In a case of complaint, 
which was decided at this court, where the prisoner was 
sent for five days to the tread-mill, the magistrate, J. K. 
Dawson, observed to the overseer, " You will understand 
when I send apprentices to the tread-mill, they are to 
repay the time." This, though a frequent practice, is 
grossly illegal, and contrary to the express instructions of 
the Governor, and exposes the apprentice to the dangers 
and temptations of starvation, as in Jamaica the negroes 
are now solely dependent on labour in their own time for 
subsistence. 

In the evening we accompanied the minister to a 
station in the Clarendon mountains, about six miles 
distant from Four Paths. It commands a beautiful view 
of the adjoining parish of Vere, which is a level plain 
extending to the sea, and about twelve miles square, with 
a hill of singular form, called " The Camps," rising alone 
in the centre of it. It is almost exclusively cultivated 
with the cane, and contains a population of 12,000 ap- 
prentices. There is no resident missionary in the parish ; 
a circumstance in part accounted for by the difficulty of 
procuring land for buildings, as it is altogether occupied 
by large estates. Vere is one of the most wealthy 
parishes, and one therefore in which there are not more 
than one or two resident proprietors. These are most 
numerous in the impoverished districts, a circumstance 
worthy of remark, as proving that the immense produc- 
tiveness of the colonies tends to enrich only the pro- 
prietors of the soil, residing in splendour at a distance, 
and is of little benefit to their ovm agricultural popula- 
tion. We lodged at the house of a respectable coloured 
woman, who cultivates a small coffee plantation. In her 
house the minister had a small evening congregation of 
negroes. 

19th. — This morning, service was held at an early hour 



5A 
252 JAMAICA. 

in a rude shed, which has been erected on the premises 
of an intelhgent negro, who has purchased his freedom, 
and is now cultivating coffee and provisions on his own 
freehold. The congregation consisted of 120 persons, 
and the service of singing and prayer, and the practical 
and familiar exposition of a psalm. As soon as it was 
concluded, we returned to Four Paths, most of the con- 
gregation following on foot. The remainder of the day 
was almost entirely occupied in teaching and the usual 
public worship. The missionary, and his wife and sister, 
have taught nearly 100 children, who were ignorant of 
the alphabet, to read, during their brief residence. They 
have also distributed the "gift book" to about sixty of 
the apprentices whom they have themselves taught to 
read. This magnificent present of the Bible Society still 
continues to be exceedingly useful, in inciting children 
and even adults to learn to read. In one of the adult 
classes was an old African woman, who read intelligibly 
in the Testament, having been taught from her letters. 
The congregation at this station was composed of about 
200 persons, assembled in a small temporary shed for 
this purpose, used till a chapel, which is erecting, shall be 
finished. They were very attentive to the sermon and 
exposition of the Scripture. 

A squalid old man came this afternoon to the mission- 
ary's house, and begged that we would give him a letter 
to his master, that he might return to the estate, having 
been in the hush (a runaway) five weeks. During slavery 
it was a custom for repentant runaways to get an inter- 
cessory letter from some friend of their masters, or even 
from a stranger, to save them from punishment. It was a 
point of honour and of policy to attend to such requests, 
as the planters, in a country of mountain fastnesses like 
this, were glad to get their labourers back on any terms. 
The account this negro gave was as follows : — He be- 
longs to a neighbouring coffee planter, whose appren- 



JAMAICA. 253 

tices had to work at a distance of seven or eight miles 
from their homes. They were expected to be at the 
place of work early on Monday morning, though they 
had to carry a week's provisions on their heads, be- 
sides their hoes. They were threatened with punish- 
ment for being late, on which they went to the special 
magistrate, Chamberlaine, who gave them a letter to 
their master, and told them that he must allow them 
sufficient time to go and return every week. Their 
master tore the paper up before their eyes, and took 
them away to Chapelton, a distance of twenty miles, 
where a magistrate was to be found who gave ge- 
neral satisfaction to the planters ; and who, accordingly, 
sent several of them to the tread-mill for ten days, and 
required them to repay the time by working on their 
Saturdays. When they came out, this man found his 
provision ground, which was near the pasture, destroyed 
by the cattle, and being now bereft of his time, he was 
left destitute of food. He ran away to Spanish Town 
to appeal to the Governer, but did not succeed in ob- 
taining admittance to the King's House, and, being afraid 
of punishment for his absence, fled to the bush. We could 
not learn how he came to hear of our being at Four 
Paths, or to think of applying to us. His evident dis- 
tress placed us in a painful dilemma, as we have hitherto 
suffered nothing to divert us from our resolution to pass 
through the country as spectators only. We at length 
concluded to give him a letter to the special magistrate, 
requesting his favourable interference.* 

This district of Clarendon was favoured till recently 
with the presence of a faithful magistrate, an intelligent 

* This gentleman has since informed us, that the runaway was at 
his request pardoned. His letter contains explanations intended to give 
a favourable impression of the treatment of the apprentices on the estate 
in question ; but all the material points of the preceding case are ad- 
mitted, or feebly palliated. 



254 



JAMAICA. 



young man of colour, named Chamberlaine. About two 
months since he was removed by Sir Lionel Smith, by 
exchange with the present magistrate, who, on the other 
hand, had been charged with oppressive conduct in his 
former district in St. Thomas in the East. Special jus- 
tice Lyon, an intelligent and upright man, has also re- 
cently been removed from St. Thomas in the East, to 
the opposite end of the island, without any assigned 
cause. The planters, encouraged by their recent success 
in these two instances, and in that of Dr. Palmer, are 
again plotting against several of the unpopular magis- 
trates, who persist in endeavouring to do justice to the 
apprentices. A planter, who is also a barrister, and 
leading member of Assembly, has recently sent a cir- 
cular letter to the overseers in his neighbourhood, re- 
questing them to meet, and prepare a memorial and 
affidavits against Chamberlaine, who has scarcely been 
two months in his new district. He promises that he 
will lay the respective affidavits before the Governor, 
and enforce them hy all means in his -power. If the upright 
magistrates continue to be thus left unsupported by the 
home Government, and exposed to these intrigues in 
the Colony, not one of them will be able to retain his 
commission. 

We had several opportunities, during our stay in 
Clarendon, of conversing with the negroes. Their state- 
ments will be found with others of a similar kind.* Se- 
veral of them, who had been sent to the tread-mill, 
exhibited on their legs the scars of the severe injuries which 
they had received. Their complaints were principally 
of frauds of time, and of as large or larger an amount of 
task-work being extorted from them than during slavery, 
in spite of the legal restriction of the hours of labour. 
There were also several instances of a common but 

* See Appendix, Section iv., page 388. 



JAMAICA, 255 

flagrant abuse, where women, with six children or up- 
wards, were compelled to work in the field, who had 
been accustomed during slavery to " sit down, " or re- 
quired only to attend to light work. From the inform- 
ation we were able to obtain, it appeared that the eight 
hour system * was generally enforced in this parish ; and 
that the apprentices were defrauded to a great extent of 
their time. There is one proprietor, however, Alexandre 
Bravo, of whom his people invariably speak in terms of 
gratitude, for his just and kind treatment of them. The 
state of things on many of the estates is indicated by the 
following anecdote : A liberal overseer of a large estate 
complained to our informant, that " he was compelled to 
defraud the apprentices every day of their time." If his 
make of sugar were to be reduced, it would be deemed 
no excuse, by his attorney, to say that he could not pro- 
duce more with the amount of labour which the appren- 
tices are by law required to give. The rejoinder would 
be, " What do they do on the adjoining estates?" 

We did not go into Vere, and have no information 
of the state of the apprentices in that important parish, 
except that the non-predials are likely to be detained in 
slavery till the year 1840. Two of the missionaries of 
the London Society informed us, that a local magistrate 
of Vere observed in their presence, that in that parish 

* Where the negroes, as is the case in Jamaica, support themselves by 
working in their provision grounds, they are required by the law to work 
only forty and a half hours instead of forty-five hours per week. Under 
the eight hour system the forty and a half hours are divided into five days 
of about eight working hours each ; an arrangement by which the negroes 
are effectually deprived of the half-day of four and a half working hours, 
which was given them by law as an equivalent for rations or supplies of 
food. As their provision grounds are usually several miles from their 
houses, the distribution of the time over several days destroys it for any 
useful purpose to the negroes. The enforcement of the eight hour sys- 
tem is therefore oppressive ; besides which, it is frequently made the pre- 
text of extorting five days' labour of nine or ten hours each, instead of 
the legal amount of forty and a half hours. 



256 JAMAICA. 

' ' they had abolished the distinction between the predial 
and non-predial, by making all the apprentices prediah" 

20th. — We returned early this morning to Spanish 
Town. 

22nd. — We observed to-day in the streets six or seven 
women, several of whom were handcuffed, in the cus- 
tody of the police, by whom they had been apprehended 
as runaway apprentices. They were subsequently taken 
before a special magistrate, when it appeared that there 
was no proof that they w^ere apprentices, except that they 
could not produce their " free papers." They w^ere 
in fact free, and had been taken, some from their own 
houses, and others from their peaceable avocations. 
They were of course liberated, and the police repri- 
manded, but the injured parties received no compensa- 
tion for their loss of time, or for the outrage committed 
on them. 

We were to-day in the company of one of the Baptist 
missionaries, who is a Creole by birth, and one of a family 
who, though they have all been brought up in contact 
with slavery, have cleared themselves from its contami- 
nating connexion. His brother, James Whitehome, now 
resident in England, has manumitted his apprentices, 
and directed the whole amount received as compensation 
to be expended for their benefit. The present estima- 
ble individual mentioned to us, that one old negro is 
now a member of his church, who was formerly one of 
their domestic slaves, and whom he was accustomed, 
when a boy, to strike and beat at his pleasure ; and that 
the recollection of this makes him deeply feel the debt of 
kindness which he owes him. 

23rd. — We arrived to-day in Kingston, where we had 
the pleasure of meeting our friend and fellow-voyager, 
Dr. Lloyd. 

26th. — We attended this morning the Baptist chapel 
in East Queen-street, the largest of their congregations 



JAMAICA. 257 

in Kingston. The auditory comprised about 2000 per- 
sons, of whom a large proportion were negroes. They 
were very attentive. 

28th. — We this morning rode over to Papine, the 
estate of J. B. Wildman, and saw the school, in which 
were about thirty children, many being absent in con- 
sequence of its being Easter week. Their proficiency 
was not remarkable, but the greater number were at its 
commencement, about a year ago, ignorant of their 
letters. 

29th. — We visited the school connected with the 
Baptist church in East Queen-street. There were about 
160 children present, of whom thirty formed an infant 
school. The attendance was considered small, in con- 
sequence of the Easter holidays. Many of the scholars 
had made considerable progress in geography, grammar, 
and cyphering, and wrote also very neatly. A large 
proportion were coloured, and one or two were white. 
We were introduced to-day to E. B. Lyon. He informed 
us that he had valued 160 apprentices since the com- 
mencement of the present system. Nearly all of them 
had subsequently been under his own observation, and 
conducted themselves in the most industrious and or- 
derly manner.* He remarked, that in the early part of 
the apprenticeship the valuations of predials by himself 
and the associated local magistrates, averaged five and 
six doubloons ; now, for a fraction of the term, they are 
appraised at nine and ten. Domestics were then valued 
at from four to five doubloons, who are now for the 
short remaining period of their service estimated at the 
same rate. These remarks entirely coincide with our 
own observations, and with the facts stated to us by 
many other individuals. 

30th. — We saw to-day Duncan Paterson, an appren- 

* See Appendix, Section xi., page 451. 

z 3 



258 JAMAICA. 

tice from St. Thomas in the East, who, five months ago, 
gave notice to be valued ; and from that time to the 
present, has duly every week attended the Court of the 
special magistrate, but has been hitherto successfully 
baffled by his master. The following is his statement, 
and we learn from other authority that its particulars 
are true. " When my master took a new partner he 
made the people very unhappy, and used frequently to 
lock them up in the dungeon, and ordered their salt fish 
to be taken from them. Three times last year I was 
locked up in the dungeon, from night till morning, with- 
out food or water. He complained that we did not turn 
out early on Monday morning, though we had to go ten 
or eleven miles to work, with our tools and a week's pro- 
vision on our heads. The magistrate ordered every 
other Saturday to be taken from us. The last time I 
was locked up was for complaining to the magistrate 
about our allowance. I became so unhappy that, about 
three months before Christmas, I applied to Mr. Hewitt 
to be valued. I went to the Court-house every Satur- 
day, but my master got it put off every week till Christ- 
mas, when he got a magistrate who valued me at ninety- 
six pounds, Mr. Hewitt spoke against it, and wrote to 
the Governor. I have been down every Saturday to the 
Court since, and have not been able to get it settled, I 
have now been to Spanish Town, but was not allowed 
to speak to the Governor, but am sent back to the same 
magistrate." 

31st. — We visited to-day several of the principal 
public institutions in Kingston, accompained by R. 
Osborn, who is a member of the corporation. We went 
first to the General Hospital, which is supported by the 
island at a large annual expense. The patients are 
in small wards, containing three or four beds in each. 
There were nearly 200, of whom a large proportion 
were sailors, chiefly Europeans and foreigners. No class, 



JAMAICA. 259 

however, is excluded, except the apprentices, who are 
presumed to be provided medical and surgical attend- 
ance by their employers. The arrangements of this 
institution, including the medical attendance, the diet, 
and the admirable cleanliness of the apartments, ap- 
peared to be well adapted to secure the comfort and 
convalescence of its inmates, except that the number of 
patients was too large for the accommodation. Adjoin- 
ing the hospital were two ranges of buildings for the 
reception of violent maniacs. The want of space here 
also was an obvious inconvenience ; three or four 
patients being frequently confined in a single small 
apartment. We were informed that several homicides 
had been committed by these unfortunate people in their 
paroxysms : the most violent cases were Europeans. 

We next visited Wolmer's Free School ; a foundation 
endowed with a large sum of money, left many years 
ago by the individual whose name it bears, for the edu- 
cation of white children. The trust is administered by 
the corporation, who in 1815 threw it open to all classes, 
without any distinction of colour. The present master, 
Ebenezer Reid, is not only well qualified for the situa- 
tion he fills, but deeply interested in the cause of edu- 
cation generally. As it was the Easter week, the attend- 
ance at Wolmer's was not more than 150 ; the number 
on the list being about 500 of both sexes, and the ave- 
rage attendance proportionably large. Our time per- 
mitted us to make only a cursory survey ; but we are 
inclined to pronounce Wolmer's the best school we have 
seen in the West Indies. The plan comprehends a 
general instruction in the physical sciences, in addition 
to the usual routine. The French and Spanish lan- 
guages are also taught, being necessary acquirements 
for those who aspire to employment in the stores and 
counting-houses of the Kingston merchants. The pro- 
portion of white to coloured children is about one in 
five. The testimony of the master to the intellectual 



260 JAMAICA. 

equality of the races is very striking. He observes; "For 
the last thirty-eight years I have been employed in this 
city in the tuition of all classes and colours, and have 
no hesitation in saying, that the children of colour are 
equal, both in conduct and ability, to the white. They 
have always carried off more than their proportion of 
prizes, and at one examination, out of seventy prizes 
awarded, sixty-four were obtained by children of colour." 
Adjoining Wolmer's is an infant school, in an excellent 
state of discipline, which was commenced and for some 
years taught gratuitously by a daughter of E. Reid. It 
is now supported by the corporation out of the fund of 
Wolmers' bequest. There are two other public schools 
in this neighbourhood ; one under the patronage of the 
Bishop, and the other supported by subscription, and 
called the " Union School." We are informed, that the 
Governor lately inspected these schools, and expressed 
his surprise and pleasure at finding white children 
learning with those of colour; observing, that it was a 
step in advance of Barbadoes. 

From the schools we proceeded to the workhouse. To 
say that the premises aie neat, would be too feeble ; 
they are really beautiful, and suggest to a casual visitor 
ideas of pleasure rather than punishment. There is a 
large square court, surrounded with a border of grass, 
in which are planted rows of pine-apple plants. In the 
centre of the court are the solitary cells, and the build- 
ing for the tread-wheels ; and it is enclosed by ranges 
of buildings, comprising the sleeping apartments, store- 
rooms, dispensary, &c. The premises on the south side 
are close to the sea, and are devoted chiefly to idiotic 
and maniacal patients. There are seventy prisoners, of 
whom one-third are white soldiers, and the remainder 
male and female apprentices. There were about thirty 
sentenced to the tread-mills, of which there are two of 
humane construction, and whose speed is regulated by 
machinery. The prisoners are divided into two spells, 



JAMAICA. 261 

and work alternate quarters of an hour, froni six a. m. to 
five P.M., with the intermission of one hour only for 
breakfast. They are not strapped on the wheel. The 
women were not supplied with a suitable dress, which is 
indispensable to decency on the tread-mill. The male 
apprentices only are chained within the workhouse, but 
the females are also chained who work on the public 
roads in the penal gang. No shackles or fetters are used 
at night. There was only one prisoner, a white soldier, 
in the solitary cells, which are better constructed and 
ventilated than any we have yet seen. There are eleven 
life convicts, who are chiefly slaves convicted of bur- 
glary. The diet of the prisoners is three pounds 
avoirdupois of ground maize, and one large shad, per 
diem. In a room and yard detached from the other 
premises, were four patients, affected with the disease 
called " cocobay," one of the most dreadful forms of 
leprosy, which is happily not very common in Jamaica. 
One of them had lost most of the joints of his hands and 
feet, and his ankles appeared to have spontaneously dis- 
located ; the faces of others were shockingly disfigured. 

We next visited the county gaol, in which also there 
are about seventy prisoners. The premises are so 
limited as to render classification impossible. Among 
those in confinement, are several crown witnesses against 
prisoners to be tried at the next session, who are unable 
to find bail for their appearance. Their case appears 
peculiarly hard, as they are cognizant of crime only as 
accidental spectators. One fine young man has been 
thus incarcerated for several months, who is evidence 
against some horse stealers. Besides the irksomeness of 
their situation, the confinement and society of the prison 
must exercise a most deteriorating effect on the energies 
and habits of labouring persons. The greater number 
of the prisoners were collected for us to see them, and 
placed in two separate rows ; of which one consisted of 



262 JAMAICA. 

those awaiting Iheir trial, and the other of convicts under 
sentence of transportation, many of whom had been 
waiting for several years for their sentences to be carried 
into effect. The prisoners of both classes, with a few 
exceptions, had shackles and bolts on their feet. They 
are kept in utter idleness ; the only relief to which is, 
that a humane visiting magistrate has recently ordered 
that one of the prisoners shall teach the others to read, 
which he does for a short time every night and morning. 
A separate department of the gaol is appropriated for 
debtors, who are allowed two shillings and sixpence a 
day for their support, and the criminals one shilling and 
threepence ; which sums are paid them in money. The 
only agreeable feature in the present state of the gaol 
is the fact, that there are only seven or eight women in 
the whole number of prisoners. 

Ath Month, ^nd (April.) — We went this morning to 
the Kirk, which is the largest and most costly place of 
worship in the city. The minister is liberally supported 
at the public expense. His congregation is small, and 
composed almost exclusively of the wealthy merchants 
and their families. The number of black and coloured 
persons in the small unpewed portion of the gallery did 
not exceed twenty. There is but one service in the 
week. 

3rd. — We were introduced to-day to Alderman 
Nethersole, an intelligent and public-spirited citizen ; 
and we are informed, it is principally owing to his exer- 
tions that the Kingston workhouse is in its present 
creditable state. He is the proprietor of a large es- 
tablishment for tanning and manufacturing leather 
articles of every description. His numerous workmen 
and apprentices in the manufactory are nearly all black 
and coloured free persons, and he considers that, for 
skill and good conduct, they will bear comparison with 
those of any English establishment. We were shown 



JAMAICA. 263 

over the premises, and the respectable appearance and 
industry of the workmen, and the quality of their manu- 
facture, as far as we could judge of it, corresponded with 
the account we had received. In the tan-yard, which 
we had not time to visit, native products are used for 
tanning, of which the principal are the mangrove, and 
the seed pods of a tree called the divey-divey, which is 
found on the Spanish Main. The latter contains seventy 
per cent, of tannin. The skins are tanned in six or eight 
months, and the leather is nearly, if not quite equal in 
quality to that of English manufacture. Alderman 
Nethersole may be said to have introduced this new and 
valuable branch of industry into the Colony. Artizans 
who have learned their trade in his establishment, are 
now setting up for themselves in various parts of the 
island. There is also in Kingston a large manufactory, 
where cabinet work is executed in the native hard woods, 
in a style that would not discredit any European es- 
tablishment. 

We had to-day the pleasure of making the acquaint- 
ance of Richard Panton, an estimable clergyman of the 
Church of England, now connected with the Church 
Missionary Society, but who recently resided in St. 
Thomas in the East. Some of the special magistrates 
in that parish are in the habit of punishing the appren- 
tices by the forfeiture of their Saturdays to the estates. 
The consequences of this practice came under his notice 
in the following manner : — It was his custom at church 
to read over the names of the apprentice members every 
Sabbath, and require a reasonable excuse on behalf of 
such as were absent. This practice was adopted, in 
order to maintain the strictest pastoral oversight over 
converts so peculiarly exposed to the unfavourable 
influences of a degraded state of society. A reason 
constantly given by the negroes for absence was, that 
having been deprived of their Saturdays by the special 



264 JAMAICA. 

magistrate, they were compelled to go to their provision 
grounds on the Sabbath. As an instance of their acu- 
men, and of their sense of the degradation of slavery, he 
mentioned, that some years ago a clergymen preached 
in his church, who addressed the negroes affectionately 
and appropriately, but introduced that portion of his dis- 
course intended for them with the words, '*= My slave 
brethren." At the conclusion, the negroes appeared to 
manifest much displeasure, and on being asked the 
reason, said, " Strange minister too bad ;" and that when 
they stood before God in his own house, there was no 
longer any distinction of condition. In proof of which, 
they quoted the text, " In Christ there is neither male 
nor female, bond nor free ; " and inquired, whether the 
minister, in addressing his congregation, did not always 
say, "my brethren," and never "my sisters?" Our in- 
formant acknowledged, that the idea suggested in this 
inquiry, though consistent with his own practice, had 
not occurred to him before. 

5th. — We crossed the harbour to Port Royal, and late 
in the evening, Joseph Sturge embarked on board the 
Orbit packet, on his return via New York to England. 



CHAPTER XV. 



JAMAICA. 

ST. David's and st. thomas in the east. 
Journal of William Lloyd * and Thomas Harvey. 

Ath Month, Sth, {April) 1837. 

We set out to-day on a journey to the east end of 
the island. Our first stage was Yallahs' Bay, in the 
parish of St. David, nineteen miles from Kingston. 
Our kind friend, J. Tinson, has a station at Yallahs, 
where he was spending a few days with his family. We 
accompanied him to see an old African, residing a short 
distance from the Bay, in the negro village of a neigh- 
bouring pen. He was a man of venerable mien, and 
though he has been so long in this country, he can 
scarcely speak English intelligibly, but can read and 
write Arabic. He wrote, at our request, his own African 
name, Arouna, and also some words which he said were 
a prayer before meat, a — formula, we presume, he was 
about to use, as he was just sitting down to dinner when 
we entered. He told us that he was one of the royal 
family of the Houssa tribe, of the Mandingo nation, and 
enumerated the names of various tribes in the vicinity 
of Houssa, which he said was three months from the 
coast. It has been noticed, that the educated Moham- 
medan negroes speak the worst English. They are less 
frequently converted to Christianity ; and in cases where 

* Dr. Lloyd not having yet returned to this country, the ensuing 
chapter has not had the advantage of his revision, and his companion is 
therefore solely responsible for its contents. 



9 



A 



266 JAMAICA. 

they have become nominal believers, they have been 
found to blend it with the superstitions of their fore- 
fathers. The employment of this old man was to keep 
his master's garden in order. A stream ran through it, 
one part of which he had made wider and deeper, and 
had thrown a bower over it. In this shaded reservoir 
he kept some mullets, which came at his call to feed 
out of his hand. 

One of the most interesting objects in this neighbour- 
hood is a silk cotton tree, of an extraordinary size, grow- 
ing on the bank of a rivulet. It is about one hundred 
feet in circumference, and each of its branches is equal 
to a large tree. The trunk of the silk cotton tree is fre- 
quently smooth, and rises gradually tapering to a great 
height, at which it throws out its arms at right angles. 
When the tree attains, as in this instance, a very vigorous 
growth, the trunk, near the root, gradually expands 
into angular buttresses, which support the weight of its 
immense limbs. Two opposite arms of this tree extend 
to a distance of 173 feet; and its huge roots, stretching 
out above the surface in every direction, appear to cover 
a rood of ground. 

9th. — The Sabbath. We were awakened this morn- 
ing by the notes of the mock bird, which is the only one 
that can be properly termed a bird of song. It is a 
species of thrush, though universally in the West Indies 
known as the nightingale. The early morning, at a 
distance from town, is delightful. The fierce heat of a 
tropical sun is abated by the cool and refreshing dews of 
night, and all is hushed, but voices and sounds expres- 
sive of the happiness of animated nature. We were 
disappointed in our hope of spending a few quiet hours 
at our inn. Three or four parties of overseers in gigs, 
with servants following them with led horses, came in, 
in succession, to breakfast, and soon converted the place 
into a scene of bustle. They were on their way to 



JAMAICA. 267 

Kingston assizes; but it is not an unusual custom to 
travel in this style on the Sabbath, visiting their 
friends on distant estates. The morning service at 
the Baptist mission .station commenced at ten o'clock. 
The chapel, which is capable of holding about 300, 
was completely filled, and some remained standing 
outside ; the whole were very attentive ; at the con- 
clusion a couple were married, who had been long 
waiting in, consequence of the refusal of the Rector of 
the parish to marry them without a permit from the at- 
torney, which they could not obtain.* Not long after 
the ceremony, the Lord's-supper was administered to 
about eighty communicants. There was another short 
service in the evening, attended by a few who lived in 
the neighbourhood. 

10th. — In the course of the morning we visited the 
parish workhouse, which is situated about four miles 
from the Bay, in a valley surrounded by high moun- 
tains, near the bed of a mountain stream. At present, 
this rivulet is only a few feet wide, but in the rainy sea- 
son it occupies a plain, across which a chain bridge has 
been attempted to be thrown, but became a ruin before 
it was completed. Its span was 350 feet. The work- 
house is a neat, little building, recently erected. It has 
no tread-mill, and its inmates, four or five in number 
only, were employed for hire as a penal gang on the 
neighbouring estates, with the exception of one invalid. 
Offenders sentenced to the tread-mill are sent to work- 
houses in the adjoining parishes. 

We called on our return at the school recently estab- 
lished by the bishop. The master and his wife, two 
coloured young persons, appeared to take an interest 
in their occupation; and the children seemed to have 
profited by the pains bestowed upon them, though the 

* See Appendix, Section xii., page 453. 



268 JAMAICA. 

school has been established too recently for any marked 
proficiency to be manifest. There were fifty-one scho- 
lars on the list. This school is the only one in the 
parish, which comprises a negro population of 10,000 
souls. A building is being erected on the premises of 
the Baptist mission station, for a school, but is impeded 
by want of funds. This appears to be one of the 
parishes most destitute of the means of instruction, and 
the negroes are represented to be among the most ig- 
norant and benighted. 

11th. — We proceeded early in the morning to Morant 
Bay, in the parish of St. Thomas in the East, a little 
town and port about twelve miles distant from Yallahs. 
We were introduced to M. Hodge, a missionary of the 
London Society at this station, who is on the point of 
quitting the island. He kindly accompanied us to the 
parish school, where there were about forty children, 
chiefly coloured. We heard a class conjugate a difficult 
verb, spontaneously selected, in a very creditable manner. 
We next visited the school attached to the London 
mission, which is conducted by a catechist. The average 
attendance of the children is about fifty. They were 
in good order, but they did not appear as yet to have 
made any considerable proficiency. 

We saw the jail, a small, confined building, in which 
happily there are no prisoners. The state of it is such 
as infrequency of use alone can excuse. The workhouse 
is some distance from the town, and is a convenient and 
well-arranged set of premises. The present number of 
inmates is twenty-nine, of whom seventeen are life 
convicts. Nearly as many more of these last have es- 
caped, some of whom, we were told, had not been heard 
of for years. The penal gang, both men and women, 
work in chains. The tread-mill was in operation. The 
prisoners work, as at Kingston, alternate quarters of an 
hour, from six to five, with the intermission of only one 



JAMAICA. 269 

hour for breakfast. The mill is difficult to regulate, 
and of bad construction, though much better than many 
others we have seen. There were four prisoners on it, 
one of whom was a woman, and another a white man, a 
sailor. They had not suitable dresses. The supervisor 
said, that both men and women were " touched with the 
whip" when they would not tread ,the mill, but they are 
not strapped to the hand-rail unless refractory. 

In the afternoon we accompanied M. Hodge to Bel- 
videre, a large estate, a few miles distant from Morant 
Bay. The apprentices have erected a chapel upon it, 
entirely by their own labour. It is a neat wattled struc- 
ture, capable of holding 500 persons. We regarded it 
with no little interest, as a convincing proof of the desire 
of the negroes for religious instruction, M. Hodge has 
two estate stations ; this, and one at an equal distance 
from the Bay on the opposite side, at an estate called 
Retreat. These stations are supplied every Sabbath by 
himself and the catechist in turn ; and in the afternoon 
he preaches at Morant Bay. Besides the establishment 
of the principal school, he has also distributed some of 
the gift-books to apprentices, who have learned to read, 
Belvidere is a very fine estate, and belongs to a French 
nobleman, Count Freeman. His late resident attorney 
was President of the Council, and on one or two occa- 
sions administered the government of the Colony. He 
was kind and indulgent to the slaves. The present at- 
torney, also, is said to be liberally disposed, while the 
proprietor has directed certain allowances to be curtailed. 
We walked through a part of the negro village ; many of 
the houses are large and comfortable. The whole were 
almost concealed in the shade of plantains, cocoa-nut, 
and bread-fruit trees. We conversed with a respectable 
and intelligent negro, who complained that the watch- 
man had been taken away from their provision grounds, 
and the cattle of the estates turned into them. He said 

2a 3 



270 JAMAICA. 

they were compelled to buy provisions from the Bay for 
their support, and that their principal dependence was 
now upon their fruit trees. The overseer told them they 
would soon be free, and must not expect their old privi- 
leges. He said, that during crop they received tenpence, 
when they worked in the night, but that their half Fri- 
days were taken from them, for which they received no 
pay. On our mentioning these circumstances to our 
companion, he said that the negroes on Belvidere were 
as fine a set of well-disposed labourers as could be found 
any where; and that the overseer had often told him 
they did more work within the hours than formerly; it 
is therefore most impolitic, as well as unjust, to pursue 
such a course towards them. We looked over the hos- 
pital, in which were several cases of fever and measles. 
The latter disease has been very prevalent in almost 
every part of the island. We have seen many cases of 
it, but it appears to assume a very mild form. We 
have not heard a single instance in which it has proved 
fatal. The great house on Belvidere is one of the best 
mansions we have seen, and is delightfully situated on 
an eminence, immediately above the cane grounds. It 
commands a fine view of the Bay, the shore of which is 
marked by a long line of cocoa-nut trees. This beautiful 
palm is the first tree that greets the eye of the voyager 
on approaching land in the tropics ; and from being 
introduced in all representations of tropical scenery, 
it appears, when first seen, at once a novel and familiar 
object. 

12th. — We came this morning to Bath, through Port 
Morant. Our route to the latter place was principally 
by the sea-side. This country is highly cultivated to the 
base of the nearest range of hills from the coast, which 
are cleared of their forest, and covered with deep rich 
verdure. Port Morant is situated on a very fine har- 
bour. After leaving it we turned off into the interior, 



JAMAICA. 



271 



through a very beautiful country. The road is rocky 
and mountainous. Bath is so enveloped in its grove of 
cocoa-nut, palmetto, and bread-fruit trees, as to be in- 
visible at a distance, though a site so marked indicates 
as certainly the presence of human habitations, as a view 
of spires or chimneys in Europe. Bath is a beautiful 
little town, and harmonises in every respect with the 
magnificent scenery in which it is embosomed. It con- 
sists of a single street of houses, placed at convenient 
distances apart, the road shaded on each side with trees, 
principally the palmetto and Tahitian apple, the dust of 
whose beautiful crimson blossoms almost covered the 
road. In the course of the morning we visited the bo- 
tanic garden, which, like the one in St. Andrew's, has 
been formed for the reception of eastern tropical trees 
and plants. The Assembly has recently discontinued 
its annual grant, and in consequence it is at present 
neglected, but still contains many fine trees and shrubs. 
There are several apprentices attached to it, one of 
whom, the head gardener, showed us over it. 

There are two schools in Bath, one a private day- 
school, and the other a Mico school ; the latter has been 
established only three months. It is attended by up- 
wards of sixty children, who are all taught on the infant 
system, though some of them are ten or twelve years of 
age. Some of the scholars have already made consider- 
able progress in reading. Their instructor considers 
them quite as capable as European children. 

On our return we partook of an early dinner, which 
consisted in part of mountain crabs, which Bryan 
Edwards pronounces "the most savoury and delicious 
morsels in nature;" a sentiment in which all Creoles 
unite. On some estates in this parish an apprentice is 
kept as a crab-catcher, and is expected to produce a tale 
of fifty or sixty crabs per week. In the afternoon we 
rode up to the bath, which is distant about one mile and 



272 



JAMAICA. 



a half from the town. The road is a mountain path by 
the side of a rivulet, the banks of which are covered 
with trumpet trees and bamboos of a great size, which 
keep the pathway in almost perpetual shade. The sur- 
rounding mountains are of immense height, and their 
precipitous sides are covered with the densest vegetation, 
such as is never seen, even in the tropics, except where 
there are numerous springs. The scenery is thought to 
bear some resemblance to Matlock, but possesses far 
grander and more extraordinary features. Among the 
most striking vegetable productions of the locality, is the 
tree fern, which grows to the height of from twenty to 
thirty feet. It is the most graceful of plants, and appears 
like a beautiful palm in miniature, with its slender trunk 
and crown of gigantic leaves. The bath is a plain stone 
building, consisting of several bathing rooms. A few 
hundred yards beyond it the hot spring rises into a stone 
cistern, near which is a building in a ruinous state, for- 
merly used as the residence of the poor patients. The 
w^ater possesses a slightly sulphurous smell, and a tem- 
perature of 120" Fahrenheit. It is conveyed down to the 
principal bath in a stone channel, and is there mixed at 
pleasure with the water of the cold mountain stream. 

13th. — We left Bath early this morning on our way 
to Manchineal. Our road was through a part of the 
plaintain garden river valley, a level savanna of great 
beauty and fertility. It is ten miles in length, and from 
one to three in breadth, and comprehends the finest 
estates in the island. Both yesterday and this morning, 
in driving through the estates, we have noticed the 
negi'oes generally at work in the field at half past five, or 
before sunrise, some of them running in great haste to 
join the gangs. We remained during part of the day 
at Belle Castle, the residence of John Kingdon, Baptist 
missionary. He accompanied us to a neighbouring 
plantation, to the proprietor of which, George Codring- 



JAMAICA. 273 

ton, we had a letter of introduction. The cultivation 
on this estate consists of arrow-root, and it is the first 
instance of that article being grown and manufactured 
on a large scale, that has come under our notice in the 
West Indies. It is usually grown by the apprentices, 
the free settlers, or the maroons. The experiment of 
em.ploying a considerable capital and superior skill upon 
its production and preparation has, in this instance, been 
a profitable one. One of the apprentices on this estate 
was pointed out as addicted to dirt eating. He was 
apparently a boy of fourteen years of age, but was really, 
we were told, upwards of twenty. Few large estates are 
free from negroes who have this unnatural appetite, 
which ought undoubtedly to be considered as a disease, 
though it has ever been the custom to treat it as a 
crime. This boy was on one occasion taken into his 
master's house and fed on generous diet, with temporary 
success, but his craving for dirt returned when he left 
the " great house." We were informed that the alka- 
line earth which is so greedily sought for by dirt eaters, 
is sometimes made into cakes, and sold in Kingston 
market. In the evening we proceeded to Manchineal 
Bay, where we were introduced to the special magistrate, 
Richard Chamberlaine, jun., an intelligent coloured 
gentleman. He kindly invited us to accompany him to- 
morrow to several estates. 

14th. — The first at which we called with the magis- 
trate was WilHams-field, a fine sugar estate, under the 
attorneyship of James Cockburn, a gentleman who bears 
a high character for humanity, and respect to the legal 
rights of the apprentices. Complaints are here rarely 
brought before the magistrate. The overseer observed, 
that he thought the indulgent system was decidedly more 
advantageous. The number of apprentices is 125, and 
of free children 23. We were shown over the hospital, 
which is a miserable building, almost in ruin. There 



274 JAMAICA. 

were in it several cases of measles. There was a small 
jobbing gang of negroes working on the estate, be- 
longing to another estate nine miles distant, who came 
to complain that they were not allowed any time for 
going and returning from work. The magistrate di- 
rected that their master should allow them an hour for 
every three miles, with which they appeared satisfied. 
We next visited Hector's River, a fine estate belonging 
to Major Hall, an absentee. The head book-keeper 
said there was no complaints to bring before the magis- 
trate. The number of apprentices on this estate is 260, 
and of free children 50. The latter receive no allowance 
but medical care at the expense of the estate, for v/hich 
the parents, we wei*e told, give no equivalent. We are, 
however, informed, that the apprentices are deprived of 
all their half Fridays throughout the year, and all the 
extra hours required by day and night during crop, 
without any payment, though nominally in return for the 
slave allowances. The hospital on Hector's River is an 
airy, good building, but too small for its purposes. There 
were in it several cases of measles, and also of obstinate 
sores and ulcers. We afterwards called at Grange Hill, 
a fine estate belonging to Sir Henry Fitzherbert, which 
has recently been turned into an indigo plantation. The 
overseer told us that he had made last year 246 pounds 
of indigo of fine quality, but at an immense expense of 
labour. He was persuaded it would never succeed in 
this part of the island, though it might perhaps in the 
southern parishes. Indigo was formerly extensively pro- 
duced in the West Indies ; this is the first instance we 
have met with of an attempt to restore its cultivation, 
and the circumstance of this interesting experiment 
being confided to an overseer, and one who has made 
up his mind beforehand that it will not succeed, fore- 
bodes an unfavourable result. This overseer appeared 
much irritated; he broke out into bitter complaints 



JAMAICA. ^75 

against his domestics, and talked of the pride and in- 
dolence of the mulattoes, of which class the domestic 
servants are generally composed. He said he had no 
complaints to make against his field people. During 
our stay, the fisherman, an apprentice, whose sole duty it 
is to supply the overseer's table with fish, came in with 
the produce of his day's labour, consisting of several 
small fishes. This afresh excited the anger of the over- 
seer, who proposed to put him on task-work^ asserting, 
in opposition to the pleas of the negro, that chance, 
weather, &c., had nothing to do with fishing on this fa- 
voured coast. A negro, who was the cook at the great 
house, came forward and complained that his busha had 
violently assaulted and beaten him this morning, for not 
preparing dinner with sufficient promptitude. It was 
agreed between the parties, that the complaint should be 
decided to-morrow at the weekly court, held at the 
police-station, at Manchineal Bay. The assistant of the 
principal medical man of this district resides on this 
estate, in the overseer's house. He accompanied us to 
see the hospital. It was locked, and we waited till the 
attendant with the key made his appearance. We found 
it in a wretched and dilapidated condition. There was 
one old man lying on the floor, who, the doctor remarked, 
was a patient that he had not seen before. He did not 
make, however, a single inquiry into his case. The 
negro himself said he had been this morning to the over- 
seer to isay he was sick, who told him, " Go away to the 
field, sir." He knew, however, that he was unable to 
work, and had therefore come to sit down at the hospital. 
On our return we called upon the Wesleyan mis- 
sionary, W. Gregory. There is no school in this neigh- 
bourhood except his Sunday-school, which is attended by 
about 120 children and adults. This part of the island 
is therefore very destitute of the means of education. 
The special magistrate informed us to-day, that he had 



276 JAMAICA. 

settled many manumissions by valuation, and did not 
know one negro so freed who did not support himself 
creditably by his own industry. 

15th. — This morning, at an early hour, several ap- 
prentices came to complain to the special magistrate, 
whose lodgings are at the only house of public entertain- 
ment at Manchineal, and, consequently, under the same 
roof as our own. Several of them were from the arrow- 
root plantation we visited two days ago. They brought 
with them a large basket, which would contain a bushel 
or upwards, and complained that it was used to measure 
their task, and that they were compelled, both strong 
and weak, to dig six baskets a day for five days in the 
week, and if they fell short, to make up the number on 
Saturday. Sometimes, they said, if they chanced to 
work upon a good bearing piece, they could render their 
full task, but otherwise they found it quite impossible. 
This case was appointed to be heard in court to-day. 
Another negro came, in great distress, to complain that 
he was about to be flogged. He said that he was an 
apprentice on the Grange, a property in this (Chamber- 
laine's) district, and that he and the rest of the gang 
were compelled to job out at an estate called Williams- 
field, twelve miles distant from their homes. Their 
grounds had no provisions in them, the cattle having 
trespassed and destroyed every thing growing there. 

He was required to dig seventy cane-holes a day, in 
new, stiff soil. He had no food to eat, and no water- 
carrier in the field was allowed to their gang. One day, 
the week before last, he said, as he was leaving the 
field, "they ought to have something to eat, and that 
a horse would not be served so." The book-keeper 
reported what he said to the overseer, who locked him 
up, and sent for the special magistrate, Waddington, to 
hear the complaint against him, who sentenced him to 
be locked up again, and to receive thirty-nine lashes 



JAMAICA. 277 

the next morning. The overseer told him, "he would 
give him a back to take to show Mr. Chamberlaine, and 
see whether he could take it off." He broke out of the 
dungeon, and ran away this day week for fear of the 
flogging. " The reason," he said, " why they had a 
spite against him was, because he went to Spanish 
Town to see the Governor, when, they wanted to re- 
move the people from the Grange." We subsequently 
ascertained that the account of this apprentice, as to 
the state of starvation to which his gang was reduced, 
was literally true. However hard his case, as he is 
under a legal sentence, there is no alternative for him 
but to be sent back in custody of a police officer, to 
receive his flogging, and answer for his additional offence 
of desertion. 

About ten a. m. we proceeded to the police office, 
where the special magistrate holds his court. There is 
a court-yard behind this building, formed by the re- 
maining walls of an old fortification, in two of the 
angular corners of which have been constructed four 
solitary cells, which are the very worst we have seen in 
the island. They are so situated as to be very damp 
even at the present time, after a long period of drought, 
and it is difficult to imagine their condition during the 
rainy season. They are about eight feet long, six feet 
high, and four wide ; they are furnished with a miserable 
shelf for the prisoners to lie on, and the floors are the 
bare earth, covered with the rubbish of masons' and 
carpenters' work. No special magistrate of common 
humanity would venture to direct any negro to be 
confined in them. The special Court was numerously 
attended : the following notes of cases will show the 
character of the proceedings. 

1st. Complaint against Lydia King, an apprentice on 
Rural Vale estate, by the proprietor, for leaving work at 
sunset, two hours before she ought to have done, as it 

2 B 



278 JAMAICA, 

was crop time, and for insolence to the constable. The 
evidence of the constables sustained the charges. She 
said she had a young child at the breast, and could not 
therefore remain after dark. She also brought counter- 
complaints against the constable and overseer, and in the 
absence of her witnesses, the case was deferred till the 
magistrate should visit the estate. 2nd. Two women 
from the same estate were charged with not feeding the 
mill with canes, so as to produce a pan of liquor aft&r 
sunset, according to a special agreement. This also was 
proved by the constables. The proprietor, on his cross- 
examination, acknowledged that the negroes had not 
had their half Fridays, which was expressly stipulated in 
his part of the contract. The case was therefore dis- 
missed. 3rd. A complaint against an apprentice of 
Muirtown estate, that having been sentenced for theft to 
dig five hundred cane-holes in his own time, and to be 
degraded from his office of watchman to the rank of a 
field-labourer, he had not dug the cane-holes, and when 
ordered to the field had refused to go. The defendant 
stated, that he had commenced to dig the cane-holes, and 
applied to his overseer for the requisite tools for field-work 
— a bill and hoe — which had been refused. This was ad- 
mitted by the complainant, the book-keeper of Muirtown, 
and the complaint was therefore dismissed. 4th. Against 
another apprentice of Muirtown. The head constable stat- 
ed, that he had ordered him to yoke cattle in the cart early 
in the morning, when he declared that this service was 
put upon him oftener than the rest, and was so insolent 
that the overseer directed him to be locked up in the 
dark hole, which was done. On inquiry, he said that the 
magistrate was not informed of this locking up, which, it 
must be observed, is permitted by the local apprentice- 
ship law, as a measure of security against the escape of 
offenders only, and not of punishment. This case was 
therefore dismissed. The constable laid great stress upon 



JAMAICA. 279 

the insolence which he received, but could not repeat it 
in words. " These constructive charges of insolence are 
very frequent, and draw down an immense amount of 
punishment on the unfortunate apprentices. 5th. An 
apprentice on Grange Hill, the plantation we visited 
yesterday, complained that his overseer had boxed his 
face repeatedly, and kicked him for not preparing some 
soup so early as was required, which was occasioned by 
his having to fetch the wood and water himself from 
a distance. The defendant admitted the assault, but 
pleaded aggravation. He was ill yesterday, and could 
not get the soup, and does not think he should have 
got it by this time if he " had not kicked up a roic.'^ 
He was fined two pounds, on which he pulled out an 
island check for five pounds, which he held up in com- 
plainant's face, and said, " Here, would you not like to 
get some of this ? " as if exulting in the fact that the 
award would give no reparation to complainant. 6th. 
The defendant, in the above case, preferred a counter- 
charge against the same apprentice, for disobedience of 
orders and idleness, which, for want of evidence, was de- 
ferred till the magistrate's next visit to the property. 7th. 
An apprentice of Dr. Bell complained that his master 
had flogged him. He said also that the doctor had pre- 
vented a fellow-apprentice from coming down to the 
Court, as a witness of the assault. This the doctor in- 
dignantly denied. The magistrate offered to ride up to 
his house and decide the case, which was agreed to. 
8th. An apprentice from Elmwood, the estate of Ed- 
ward Panton, the judge advocate general, complained, 
that though he was a cripple, he had been ordered to 
go to the field. He produced a large heavy hoe, which 
had been given to him, and w^hich he had been for- 
bidden to sharpen in his master's time. His former 
employment was tending hogs and minding the gate, 
which it was his duty to open to all visitors, but he 



"280 JAMAICA. 

had been strictly forbidden to admit the special magis- 
trate when he came to the estate, and his offence con- 
sisted in having disregarded these orders. He was told 
that he could not be compelled to work in the field as 
a punishment, and being also a cripple, was directed to 
return to his former employment. 9th. Another negro 
from the same estate said, that one of his fellow-ap- 
prentices had received serious injury from a fire in the 
stillhouse, where he was working under the superin- 
tendence of the overseer's son. He said this man was 
a very active, valuable negro, and had often saved his 
master's property when it had been on fire before ; but 
that now he was in the hospital, neglected, and with no 
one to attend him. The two medical men attending 
the estate were present, and contradicted this statement 
warmly. The result of the conflicting testimony was, 
that the man was very seriously burnt. He could not 
feed himself, but was lying in the hospital, which was 
locked up, and his mother was not allowed to be with 
him, nor any one but the negro attendant called the 
hospital doctor. The accident occurred through the 
wilfulness of the book-keeper, in refusing to take the 
advice of the man who was accustomed to work the 
still. This complainant also repeated coarse abuse, 
lavished upon the special magistrate, by the overseer 
and others. 10th. Two pregnant women from Hertford 
estate, complained of being compelled to perform field 
work. One of them was far advanced in pregnancy, 
and had a diseased leg, which alone would incapacitate 
her from severe labour; the other said she had been 
very sickly during her pregnancy, and yet was required 
to turn out as early as the rest. The medical men pre- 
sent were asked to give an opinion, but declined, as they 
did not attend the estate. The magistrate received a 
note from the overseer, stating, that the doctor declared 
one of the women was only in her third month, and 



JAMAICA. 281 

might continue to perform her ordinary work ; and that 
the other, (the one affected with elephantiasis,) was 
between six and seven months gone in pregnancy, and 
might work another month in the second gang. It must 
be observed, that the second gang works the same num- 
ber of hours as the first, and its labour is frequently as 
severe. The case was deferred till the magistrate's next 
visit to the estate. — 1 1th. An apprentice, on Happy Grove 
plantation, the property of George Codrington, com- 
plained that he and his fellow-apprentices were required 
to dig six baskets of arrow-root per diem, for five days 
in the week, as before stated ; also that they were com- 
pelled to watch at night by turns, and if a man missed a 
night, he was made to watch for six nights in succession, 
although they received no pay for watching ; also, that 
when they were able to complete their task of arrow- 
root, they were compelled to go and pick grass : also, 
that having worked by agreement, for three days in their 
own time, for one shilling and eightpence a day, their 
master had refused to pay them for more than two days. 
He said the apprentices had made no agreement to work 
by the task ; their master had forced it on them, and 
the former magistrate (Dawson) would not hear a word 
they had to say. When they complained recently to 
their master, he told them they might go to Mr. Cham- 
berlaine ; that it was their turn now, but would be his 
by and by; that he would have justice done him, and 
would send for Major Baines, (a magistrate very popular 
with the planters in an adjoining district.) Complainant 
also repeated offensive expressions used by his master in 
reference to the magistrate's complexion. The defend- 
ant, in reply, admitted the expressions attributed to him, 
except the last, which he denied. He said that his 
people had worked by the task of six baskets a day, for 
the last fifteen years ; and on the introduction of the ap- 
prenticeship had continued to do it, under the sanction 

•2 B 3 



282 JAMAICA. 

of Chamberlaine^s predecessor, (Dawson,) "who was a 
very fair magistrate," and he should insist on their still 
giving him the same quantity. On the magistrate re- 
marking that it was illegal to impose task-work without 
the consent of the apprentices, he said he would do it^ 
adding, " Sir Lionel Smith is of a different opinion to 
you, sir, and we shall see presently whether you will be 
able to prevent it." On being asked respecting his im- 
posing six nights' continuous watching, as a punishment 
on his apprentices, he said, he considered himself as 
their protector^ and desired that they should look up to 
him as such, and that the magistrate should not come 
on the property ; but now they had called him in, they 
should have enough of him. He inquired, in his turn, 
whether the magistrate would enforce him a proper 
amount of labour, and whether he would punish for in- 
solence. He did not affect to defend the imposition of 
grass-picking, and acknowledged that they had a right 
to refuse to do it. With respect to the disagreement 
about the three days, he admitted the fact alleged, but 
said they had left the work which they had agreed to do 
unfinished, and if they had been free labourers he could 
have had them punished. He brought forward his book- 
keeper, and another witness, to prove that the task of 
arrow-root digging was what they frequently performed 
by two o'clock in the day ; but as the case affected the 
entire gang, it was concluded, apparently by consent of 
all parties, that the magistrate should visit the property, 
and hold a special court to decide the case. 12th. An- 
other apprentice on the same property came forward to 
be valued. His master said that he was one of his most 
valuable men, that he was a mason and carpenter, and 
occasionally worked in the field. His book-keeper de- 
posed, that during a two years' residence on the estate, 
he had never known him employed except in the field, 
but that he was a very active, valuable man. Another 



JAMAICA. 283 

book-keeper deposed, that he had once seen him, some 
years ago, plastering a cottage. The next witness was 
a coloured man, who had been a slave, and had been 
manumitted by the father of its present proprietor, for 
his valuable services, and is still employed on the estate. 
He swore that the negro in question could handle 
both a trowel and a saw, but was not a good workman 
with either. The apprentice himself said, he had only- 
been sent to learn to be a mason for a short period, se- 
veral years ago, and that he had bad health. His brother 
confirmed this statement. An overseer, who was standing 
by, rated his services at forty pounds per annum nett. A 
dispute next arose about the class to which he belonged, 
as he had been employed as a domestic servant some 
time previous to August, 1833. The local magistrate, 
appointed as valuer, by the proprietor, pulled out of his 
pocket, the island Act recently passed for regulating 
classifications, and read the clause which gives the 
master the right of nominating a local magistrate, to 
associate with the stipendiary, and in case they cannot 
agree, to appoint a second special magistrate as umpire. 
This, he very truly observed, " gave great power to the 
master" in all disputes about classification. He said he 
should insist, in case of dispute, that the case should be 
decided in that manner. It appeared at length pretty 
clear that the man was a predial, and after some further 
difficulties, the valuation was at length fixed at sixty 
pounds. Two important features of the system were 
disclosed to our observation during these proceedings. 
The special magistrate reminded the proprietor of the 
fact which had been elicited in the previous case, that he 
paid his negroes only one shilling and eightpence for 
their Saturdays ; and he remonstrated with him on his 
placing an exorbitant price on their services, when they 
came to be valued. The latter replied, that whatever 
the time of his apprentices was worth, it was nothing to 



284 JAMAICA. 

anybody, if they chose to sell it to him for one shilling 
and eightpence a day. The local magistrate, before re- 
ferred to, remarked, that every planter must get a profit 
by the labour of his people; so it appears, that in valua- 
tions, the local magistrates take the market price of 
labour; adding thereto the real or imaginary profit, 
which the master would realise upon it during the re- 
mainder of the apprenticeship. The other was on a 
doctrine propounded by the same local magistrate, to 
the following effect : — That the stipendiary ought, if re- 
quired, to administer the law literally^ and to require the 
forty hours and a half labour per week from the appren- 
tices, in cases of sickness, or pregnancy ; and that all 
needful relaxations should emanate from the bounty and 
humanity of the proprietor. Against these sentiments 
the stipendiary protested, and declared that he would 
never violate the law of nature in any such manner. 
13th. The last case was the valuation of Alhck, an 
apprentice to John Ross, of Mulatto River estate. This 
apprentice was a fine, intelhgent negro, who has been 
employed for ten months past as an overseer on the 
estate, at a salary of twenty pounds per annum, giving 
up all his extra time. He was, however, so good a house 
servant, that his mistress had persuaded her husband to 
reduce him again to that capacity, which was the cause 
of his wishing to be valued. His master, who was pre- 
sent, employed another gentleman, the same local magis- 
trate, to act for him on account of his age and deafness. 
An agreement was produced to fix the class of the ap- 
prentice as a predial, the purport of which was, that 
fourteen apprentices, therein named, of whom Allick was 
one, should receive the same time and the same quantity 
of provision ground as the predial apprentices, on con- 
dition of their remaining apprentices till 1840. This had 
been verbally settled between them and their master on 
the first of August, 1834, and a year afterwards con- 



JAMAICA, 285 

firmed by the memorandum now produced, which was 
signed by their marks, and by the special magistrate, 
Dawson. The agent for the proprietor observing, that the 
stipendiary disregarded this agreement, again produced 
the new classification law, and proposed, as a local magis- 
trate, the proprietor of Happy Grove estate, to associate 
with special justice Chamberlaine, and a neighbouring 
special justice, of notorious character, to be the umpire. 
To this the stipendiary objected, observing, that the 
dispute was not as to the usual employment of Allick 
for the year preceding the 1st of August, 1833, which 
cases alone were the object of the classification law, 
but as to the character of the document produced, which 
he contended was neither legal nor valid. He deferred 
the question, with the intention of submitting it to the 
Governor. The old gentleman, who was a principal 
party in the cause, paid at this time five pounds; an 
amount which he had been fined on a previous occasion 
for an assault on one of his apprentices. 

At this Court, we could not but observe the very 
great difficulties the magistrate had to contend with, 
nor sufficiently admire the manner in which he dis- 
charged his duties. The room was filled with planters 
and overseers, some of whom were spectators only ; and 
when any low, vulgar abuse of the magistrate was stated 
in evidence by the negroes, it created a general laugh. 
The animus of the whole proceedings on the part of 
the planters was odious, and this single day's experience 
convinced us, that for general and systematic violations 
of the Apprenticeship Act, this is not behind any dis- 
trict in the island. 

16th. — The man who was valued yesterday from 
Happy Grove, came to-day, in distress, to complain 
that his master had found out the person who was going 
to lend him the money, and had been to him to induce 
him not to do so. 



286 JAMAICA. 

We attended the services at the Baptist mission house 
at Belle Castle. The congregation consisted of about 
300 persons, many of them apprentices from distant 
estates. 

17th. — We paid a visit this morning to Windsor 
Forest, the property and residence of Captain Quelch. 
It is on the borders of the parish of Portland, nine 
miles distant from Manchineel. The coast by which 
our route lay is very bold and rocky. The vegetation 
of the hills immediately above the sea is of the most 
luxuriant character. A parasitic species of orchis is 
found in great abundance on the trees, and the fra- 
grance of its flowers at this season perfumes the air for a 
considerable distance. Windsor Forest is an abandoned 
sugar estate of 600 acres. There are only ten appren- 
tices attached to it, who grow provisions and tend cattle. 
So small a part, however, is cultivated, that trees and 
brushwood are fast regaining possession of the land. 
The proprietor is naturally anxious for the labour of the 
community to be thrown into a market open to fair 
competition, in order that he may turn his property to 
better account. He bought this estate a few years ago, 
after the negroes had been removed to another by the 
former proprietor ; and the first thing he saw on coming 
to take possession, was a negro suspended from the 
bough of a tree, which he pointed out to us, near the 
gate. This man was the most intelligent and valuable 
slave in the gang, and had been heard to say he never 
would remove alive. Instances scarcely less striking of 
the strong local attachment of the negroes are by no 
means infrequent. From this estate we accompanied the 
special magistrate to the Grange, in the parish of Port- 
land, the estate to which the negro belongs, mentioned in 
our journal two days ago, as having broke out of confine- 
ment to escape flogging. There are about forty people 
on it, who are a jobbing gang, and are at present working 



JAMAICA. 287 

at Williams-field, twelve miles from their homes. They 
had complained that they were destitute of food and 
clothing, and had scarcely a shelter over their heads, and 
two special magistrates, Chamberlaine and Waddington, 
who were directed to inquire into their case, had ordered 
that they should have time allowed them to build them selves 
new houses and make new provision grounds, and in the 
meantime be supported by their owner. We saw se- 
veral of the people at their huts. It would be difiicult 
to conceive any thing worse than their condition, and im- 
possible to describe its wretchedness. Both their ap- 
pearance and that of their dwellings were truly mise- 
rable. They have only two or three habitable houses 
among them, in each of which several families are obliged 
to shelter themselves. They are nearly destitute of 
clothing, and having no provision ground, have conse- 
quently no food. Their grounds had been entirely de- 
stroyed by cattle while they were absent by the week 
together at their work, and the only w^atchman who had 
been allowed them was a crippled young man, whom he 
saw, and who was not only unfit for that service, but in- 
capable even of attending to his own wants. The pro- 
prietor on being asked to-day by the magistrate whether 
they had been supported agreeably to his directions, re- 
plied, that they did not require it as " they had plenty of 
friends and neighbours who would assist them," meaning 
the negroes on neighbouring properties. We may add, 
that this individual is a local magistrate. 

During our stay in this part of the island we conversed 
with a number of the negroes, from different estates in the 
Manchineel and Plantain Garden River districts, whose 
statements will be found with others of similar character,^ 
and not inferior to any in their painful interest. We wish 
we could convey the impression of the appearance and 

* See Appendix, Section iv., page 388. 



288 JAMAICA. 

demeanour of the individuals with whom we conversed, 
and the natural pathos with which many of them related 
their distresses. In no part of the island are the abuses 
greater than in this. The cases in the Appendix will be 
found to include almost every variety of oppression, legal 
or illegal. The negroes throughout all the estates in this 
part of the island, we believe, without a single exception, 
have been deprived of their half Fridays, and on the 
greater number of properties they have been extensively 
defrauded, by being com-pelled to work more than the 
legal number of hours per diem. Instead of forty hours 
and a half, they are made to work about fifty hours of 
severe uncompensated labour per week out of crop, and 
in crop a large amount of night-work has been exacted 
from them, for which they frequently receive no remu- 
neration, except what are called the extra allowances or 
indulgences of slavery, viz., salt fish, and medical at- 
tendance for their free children. It might be argued, 
that both in law and justice those allowances are due to 
the apprentices, but were it otherwise, this compulsory 
exaction of a most disproportionate amount of labour in 
heu of them, would characterise the system as one of 
gross fraud and oppression. On many estates these ar- 
rangements are enforced under the authority of pretended 
agreements, which have been made not with the people, 
but between the stipendiary and the overseer or pro- 
prietor. And even if these agreements had been made 
in a honafide manner, their conditions have been rigidly 
exacted from the apprentices, and very imperfectly ful- 
filled by the overseers, the distribution of salt fish having 
been on many estates very irregular. We have obtained 
a copy of a scale drawn up by a planting attorney re- 
siding in this parish, upon which agreements had been 
enforced by the late stipendiary magistrate on several 
estates, and which is a specimen of the manner in which 
the apprentices have been treated throughout the whole 



JAMAICA. 289 

district. Its avowed object is to obtain their half Fridays 
and extra labour during crop, in exchange for what are 
called the indulgences of slavery, without any pecuniary 
remuneration. This table, with remarks upon it, will be 
found in the Appendix.* The present special magis- 
trate, R. Chamberlaine, has been about two months in 
the district. His predecessor was J. K. Dawson, the 
character of whose administration may be inferred from 
the present state of the district. The refusal of the 
former gentleman to sanction the pretended agreements 
of the latter, and to carry on the same system of coercion, 
has excited a combined hostility against him on the part 
of the planters ; and the strongest efforts are being made 
to effect his removal. There is, in fact, a conspiracy in 
the district to re-enact the proceedings which termi- 
nated in the removal of Dr. Palmer, and the issue of 
that inquiry has inspired the planters with strong ex- 
pectations of success. In the midst of profound quiet, 
the minds of the irritated predial population being tran- 
quillised by the just policy of their new stipendiary, the 
district is beginning to be represented as in a state of 
insubordination ; and these rumours may be expected to 
increase till the credulous at a distance believe the 
eastern extremity of the island to be in rebellion ; while, 
in fact, all the violence, turbulence, and defiance of the 
law, are committed by the white overseers, proprietors, 
magistrates, colonels of militia, and assistant judges. 

A practice exists in Jamaica, and it is hoped exists 
there only, in the civilised world, of making representa- 
tions against special magistrates, and other obnoxious 
persons, founded on expressions used in the freedom of 
social intercourse or quasi friendly correspondence. 
These representations are sometimes employed to pre- 
judice the public mind, through the newspapers, and 

* See Appendix, Sectiou xiv., page 458. 

2 c 



*^90 JAMAICA. 

sometimes, imbodied in the solemn form of affidavit, are 
forwarded to the King's House, to effect their purpose 
with the Government. Several instances have come 
under our notice in different parts of the island. A 
gentleman called not long ago on the special magistrate 
of this district, and in the course of Si friendly conversa- 
tion, complained that his negroes were taking in too 
much land to cultivate ; the magistrate replied, that they 
would pay him more rent for it after 1840. Soon after- 
wards, the same individual wrote a letter to the Governor, 
stating, on the authority of this conversation, that the 
special justice was disseminating ideas among the negroes, 
that they were to forsake estate labour, and to rent inde- 
pendent parcels of land after 1840. 

18th. — -We left Manchineal this morning for Bath, on 
our return to Kingston. Nothing that we have seen in 
the West Indies is equal to the vale of the Plantain 
Garden River, seen in its whole extent from the neigh- 
bouring heights ; its level bed being covered with cane 
fields, studded at intervals with extensive estates' build- 
ings and works, partially hidden by cocoa-nut trees. 
This beautiful savanna is about ten miles in length, and 
terminates at the sea coast, in a fine harbour called 
Holland Bay. It is bounded on the south by a low 
range of hills, and on the north by an ascending series 
of heights, terminating in the lofty range of the Blue 
Mountains. The Plantain Garden River, at this sea- 
son an inconsiderable stream, intersects the savanna. 
Owing to the nearly uniform succession of fine seasons, 
this district is one of the most affluent in the island, but 
is reputed to be very unhealthy, and has been sometimes 
termed the grave of Europeans. We were accompanied 
by J. Kingdon, with whom we called at Amity Hall, a 
fine estate near the centre of the savanna, and were in- 
troduced to Kirkland, the resident overseer, and 

joint-attorney of the estate. The estate is managed with 



JAMAICA. 291 

more lenity than most others in the district — a circum- 
stance which is owing to the proprietor and his family 
residing upon it for a short time, and to his selection of 
the present overseer. The apprentices obtained their 
half Fridays, when their owner was in the island, but 
have been again deprived of them since his depart- 
ure, without, as we learned from the overseer himself, 
any agreement having been entered into, to compensate 
them for the loss.* We were shown over the works, 
which are very complete. The boiling-house has been 
newly arranged, and is the best we have seen for economy 
of labour. There is a patent teach, as the last boiling 
copper is called, from which the granulating liquor is 
drawn off, instead of being laded out ; by which means 
a saving is effected of time and fuel. The hospital is 
a very poor building, and was full of cases of measles. 
The population of Amity Hall decreased fast under the 
old system. We were told that the number of appren- 
tices is 250, and of free children only sixteen, a propor- 
tion that appears incredibly small. The "great house" 
is situated on the brow of one of the neighbouring hills, 
and is occupied by a catechist of the Church Missionary 
Society, who teaches about 120 children in a school- 
room, which has been built for the purpose. He ap- 
peared to be an excellent young man, and devoted to his 
duties. He made the unusual complaint of the inatten- 
tion of parents and their children to education. There 
are, he observes, 270 children of suitable age, within two 
miles of the school, on different estates, while he has not 

* This fact had been mentioned to us previously by two individuals 
acquainted with the circumstances. The change was made through the 
influence of the other attorney, one of the members for the parish. The 
motive could have been no other than a determination to preserve a uni- 
formity of system throughout the district, as the example of one estate, 
legally administered, would tend to excite discontent and resistance on 
the neighbouring properties. This is one reason why the directions of 
humane absentee proprietors are rarely carried into effect. 



292 JAMAICA. 

half that number on the Ust. The attendance was thin 
to-day, on account of the extraordinary prevalence of the 
measles. We next visited Golden Grove, an estate on 
the other side of the Plantain Garden River, over which 
is thrown an elegant suspension bridge. Canals are 
conducted from the river, through the different estates, 
which set their works in motion, by means of large un- 
dershot wheels. The present titne of drought impedes 
the progress of the crop, and renders it impossible to 
plant, so that its effects will be still more sensibly felt 
next year than they are at present. The attorney of 
Golden Grove, Thomas M'Cornock, who is also the Gustos 
of the parish received us very kindly, and requested the 
overseer to show us over the works. Golden Grove is one 
of the most productive estates in the island, and has up- 
wards of 500 apprentices. The buildings are very com- 
plete, and on an extensive scale, and the mill is on an 
improved plan. Instead of being placed in a raised 
building, for the purpose of allowing the cane juice to 
run down into the receiver in the boiling-house, so as to 
require all the canes to be carried up in bundles, the mill 
is placed on the level, and the cane juice is raised by a 
wheel hung round with buckets, moved by the water 
wheel that sets the mill itself in motion. It must be re- 
marked of this and similar improvements, which are at 
at length beginning to be introduced, that they not only 
save the labour of many hands, but abolish altogether 
those kinds of labour which were the most painful and 
destructive of life. It is remarkable, however, that such 
improvements are scattered singly over the island, and 
we believe no estate can be pointed out which combines 
them all. The hospital, at Golden Grove, is roomy, 
clean, and well ventilated. It is full of cases of measles, 
and the patients are locked in till convalescent. The 
practice is general throughout the island, of permitting 
the apprentice attendants, called hospital doctors, to 



JAMAICA. 293 

bleed, and compound medicines. The most interesting 
building on this estate is a handsome, little brick 
church, built by the proprietor, with materials supplied 
from his estate, and with the labour of his own slaves. 
It is now thrown open to the public, and the minister is 
paid by this and several adjoining estates. There is a 
clock in the tower of the church, and we inquired of the 
attorney, whether the people drew off when it struck six. 
He replied, " No, they draw off at sun-set, and as that is 
earlier than six on the short days, one season compensates 
for the other." He also acknowledged they did not have 
their half Fridays, and received in lieu their allowance 
of salt fish. The overseer mentioned to us, that the ap- 
prentices did not cultivate their provision grounds 
nearly so well as during slavery, and now rarely have any 
to send to market. On Amity Hall, we were informed, 
on the contrary, that the negro houses and grounds were 
more industriously attended to than before. In the 
evening we proceeded to Bath. 

19th. — Very early this morning we rode over to Alta- 
mont, the new emigrant settlement, situated in the heart 
of the Portland mountains, about eleven miles from 
Bath, and fifteen from Port Antonio. We proceeded by 
a bridle path over a ridge three thousand feet high, 
called the Coonah-Coonahs. After the first four or five 
miles, all traces of human interference with the wild do- 
main of nature had disappeared, excepting only the tract 
we followed. Below us was a valley of immense depth, 
formed by a long ridge on the opposite side, and by the 
one impending over our heads. All was one vast forest, 
whose solitude was broken only by the deep-toned voices 
of birds. That delightful and cheerful songster, the 
mocking bird, is a lover of human haunts, and its wild 
and merry notes cease to be heard in these deep recesses 
of the mountain forests. Here the multitude of moun- 
tain springs and rivers give ten-fold luxuriance to the 
2 c 3 



294 



JAMAICA. 



productions of a fertile soil vivified by a tropical sun. 
On the side of the precipice above which we were tra- 
velling, were huge trees, rooted at a great depth below 
us, but far overshadowing our heads with their arms and 
foliage. Above us, on the other side, was a canopy some- 
times so dense as to exclude the sky. Among other beau- 
tiful trees, we observed the down tree, with full crops of its 
curious pods of vegetable beaver, and the tree fern fre- 
quently covered the sides of the hills for a considerable ex- 
tent. Our path was as thickly strewn v/ith decayed leaves 
as in a northern autumn, while all else bore the aspect of 
summer; for in this climate few of the trees become 
wholly, or even partially denuded. After a long and 
difficult ascent of several miles, and a still steeper 
descent, we came to a place where the valley opened 
into a wider basin, in which traces of cultivation began 
to appear. We crossed a mountain torrent, the com- 
mencement of the Rio Grande, and entering a beautiful 
glade, covered with turf on which cattle were grazing, we 
came to a farm-house belonging to a person of colour, 
near which is the settlement of Altamont. A single 
family have been sole tenants of this wilderness for a 
long period, during which their only neighbours were 
the Maroons, living at Moore Town, about four miles 
distant. They were formerly accustomed to exercise 
free hospitality, but are now compelled to become hotel 
keepers in self-defence. The new settlement is formed 
on 600 acres of land, which was a part of their estate, 
and has been purchased from them at thirty shillings an 
acre. We were fortunate enough to arrive soon after 
the superintendent of the emigrants, A. G. Johnston, 
to whom the Gustos had given us a letter of introduc- 
tion. He is a gentleman of great intelligence, and very 
sanguine temperament, and appears completely devoted 
to his new undertaking. Under his auspices the emi- 
grants certainly appear to have a good prospect of sue- 



JAMAICA. 295 

cessfully contending with the difficulties of their new 
situation. The location is delightfully chosen in an irre- 
gular valley, about one mile and half in length, through 
which flows the Rio Grande. The climate is very fine, 
and the only obvious disadvantage is the difficulty of 
transporting produce to a port or market. The sides of 
the mountains being crown land, afford ample scope for 
the extension of the settlement. The soil is virgin land 
of the most fertile description, well suited to the culti- 
vation of coffee and ginger. The attention of the su- 
perintendent is turned to the introduction of indigo, 
tobacco, the mulberry, and various other descriptions of 
profitable cultivation. The colony consists at present 
of only six families, who have been about two months in 
the island. The commissioners anticipated their arrival, 
by building some neat little white cottages, which the 
people themselves have since further improved, and 
enclosed in little plots of ground by neat fences of 
young rose trees. They are all married persons with 
young families, from the neighbourhood of Aberdeen, 
selected by a minister who is the brother of a member of 
Assembly in this island, one of the chief promoters of the 
colonization of Europeans. They have hitherto enjoyed 
good health, with the exception of one family, who were 
detained on a sugar estate, near the coast, where the hus- 
band found employment as a cooper. There his wife 
and children were attacked by intermittent fever, from 
which they have not yet recovered. Each family, besides 
being permitted for the present to occupy a house rent 
free, cultivates any quantity of land they think proper. 
They have also a cow and certain allowances of food 
till they are able to support themselves. An account is 
kept against them for the two latter items, which they 
will be expected to repay. They are offered twenty 
acres of land in fee, as soon as they can erect a house 
upon it, so as to leave their present dwellings for new 



29 1) JAMAICA. 

occupants. About twenty houses are either built or 
in progress, and an additional number of families are 
shortly expected. The superintendent appeared de- 
lighted with the industry of the emigrants, and indeed 
showed us sufficient proofs of it, in the quantity of land 
they have ah'eady brought into cultivation. The men 
are fine, athletic peasants. They seemed cheerful, and 
expressed themselves satisfied with their new country ; 
they were employed in making a piece of road, towards 
the expense of which the island has granted a sum of 
money. Their children looked happy, and their blue 
eyes, laughing faces, and bare feet, reminded us of their 
native mountains. Their wives, however, generally ap- 
peared home-sick. The circumstance which gave us 
the least satisfaction was, the destitution of the means of 
religious instruction. There was formerly a resident 
minister, connected with the Church Missionary Society, 
stationed at the Maroon Town, four miles distant, but 
he has recently been withdrawn by the bishop. It is the 
intention of the legislature to form a colony of white 
emigrants in each of the three grand divisions of the 
island ; the eastern part of it called the county of Surrey, 
the central Middlesex, and the western Cornwall. The 
one in Cornwall has already been formed, and is called 
Seaford Town. We did not visit it, but heard a very 
unfavourable account of its progress. The Middlesex 
colony is not yet in existence. This, of Altamont in 
Surrey, has probably the best promise of success, as con- 
siderable attention has been paid to the selection of 
the families. While, however, we have thus expressed 
the agreeable impressions we received from our visit to 
Altamont, we cannot but consider the artificial system, 
upon which the settlement has been formed, as most 
unlikely to produce good results of a permanent nature. 
In addition to the formation of the settlements, Eu- 
ropean colonisation has been encouraged, by the grant 



JAMAICA. 297 

of an indiscriminate bounty of £15 a head to the im- 
porters of emigrants; a plan which could promote no 
other end than the introduction of the European vices of 
drunkenness and housebreaking ; so that in some of the 
parishes a further expense has been incurred in order to 
deport them. Europeans have also been settled by in- 
dividual proprietors on many of the -estates, almost uni- 
formly with an unfavourable result. Notwithstanding, 
however, the experience of the past, the mania for 
emigration still continues, as if there were a charm in 
a European birth and white complexion. These at- 
tempts may be traced to the boasted knowledge, but real 
ignorance of the colonists, of the negro character. 
The present condition of the low white population 
of Barbadoes has been forgotten or disregarded; as 
well as the fact, that the introduction of Europeans, 
as labourers, must in the first instance be attended with 
an enormous waste of life; and when this difficulty is 
overcome, they can never compete with the superior 
adaptation of the negroes to a tropical climate. The 
true motive of the emigration policy appears to have 
been, to create such a considerable body of whites as 
to neutralise the anticipated political importance of the 
enfranchised negroes. Such schemes, involving the 
most lavish expenditure of money, deserve the scruti- 
nising attention of the bona fide proprietors of the soil, 
whether resident or absentee, as it is generally believed 
that the " power of the purse " is in the hands of men 
in the Colony, whose fortunes are no longer susceptible 
of injury, either by private or public extravagance. 
About mid-day we proceeded to Moore Town, which 
settlement is as beautiful in situation as Altamont. It 
consists of about 100 cottages, larger and more finished 
than negro houses on estates, scattered over a consider- 
able extent of ground on the side of a hill. The resi- 
dence of the superintendent, Captain Wright, is on an 



298 JAMAICA. 

opposite height which overlooks the town. On a still 
higher eminence is a large house, belonging to one of 
the Maroons, which was lately occupied by the clergy- 
man. The Maroons are a fine race of people, tall and 
elegant in person, with features more European than the 
negroes generally possess, and with the independent 
bearing of men who have been for generations free. 
Some of the women are decidedly handsome, and except 
their complexion, more like gipsies than negroes. The 
inhabitants of this settlement, the largest Maroon town 
in the island, have lately acquired a reputation for in- 
dustry. We saw a number of women employed at Aita- 
mont, in carrying lime on their heads a considerable dis- 
tance, to the top of a hill, on which a building was in. 
progress. A troop of the men sometimes turn out, with 
their negro captain at their head, to clear the pastures of 
such of the neighbouring planters who are willing to 
employ them ; they work with their cutlasses, having a 
sort of disdain for the implements degraded by slavery. 
They also cultivate their own grounds industriously, and 
surround themselves with many domestic comforts ; and 
bid fair, in short, to become industrious citizens. Their 
improved condition and habits do great credit to their 
present superintendent. It is to be desired, when their 
bloodhound occupation of hunting out runaway negroes 
shall have ceased, by the aboliton of slavery, that their 
exclusive character and privileges may be abolished, their 
land divided among them in fee, and themselves left to 
merge into the general community of free persons. We 
called at the residence of Captain Wright, who was from 
home, but his lady politely gave us what information we 
desired. The present number of Maroons is about 600. 
Moore Town and Altamont are most accessible from 
Port Antonio, from whence there is a carriage road, to 
within five miles from the former. 

21st. — We returned this morning to Bath; and in the 
afternoon to Port Morant. 



CHAPTER XVL 



JAMAICA. 

KINGSTOX, PORT ROYAL, AND ST. THOMAS IN THE VALE. 

:ird Month, 22nd, (March) 1837. 
We returned to Kingston early this morning, where 
we had the pleasure of meeting J. A. Thome, and J. H. 
Kimball, of the United States, who have been en- 
gaged in an inquiry into the results of complete eman- 
cipation and the apprenticeship, in Antigua and Bar- 
badoes. 

23rd.^ — The following instance of the inhumanity with 
which the free children and their mothers are treated, 
even at the seat of Government, was related to us by an 
individual intimately acquainted with the circumstances. 
A few days ago, an apprentice at the country property 
of a medical man, residing in Spanish Town, came to 
her master's town residence, a distance of nine miles, 
with her infant in a dying condition : he refused to look 
at the child, and ordered her to return immediately to 
her work. An individual, to whom she applied in great 
distress, — saying her child would die on the way, if she 
attempted to return home, — suffered her to remain in 
his house, at the risk of a prosecution, for harbouring an 
apprentice, under a clause of the Act in Aid. The 
child died two days afterwards, and she returned to her 
labour. 

4th Month, 2nd, f April.) — We went this morning to 



300 JAMAICA. 

pay a visit to Captain Kent, R. N., a special magistrate, 
in the Port Royal mountains. His residence is the great 
house of Robertsfield Coffee Estate, belonging to Robert 
Stewart, and is a spacious and convenient mansion, 
though very difficult of access, being situated on the 
breast of a hill, several hundred feet high, the sides of 
which are excessively steep. There are many such 
dwellings in Jamaica, which excite our wonder, at the 
industry displayed in the conveyance of building ma- 
terials for many miles of road, which might be deemed 
almost impracticable for such purposes. Robertsfield 
commands a view of an immense valley, formed by the 
highest mountains in the island, through which runs the 
river Yallahs, contracted in this dry season within very 
narrow limits, though its spacious and rocky bed bears 
witness to its usual size and impetuosity. The mountain 
scenery of Port Royal and St. Andrews has a different 
character from that of Portland and St. Thomas in the 
East. The sides of the hills are cleared of their native 
timber, and their huge masses and towering peaks are 
fully exposed to view. So clear is the atm.osphere, that 
they are seen with a distinctness that lessens considerably 
their apparent height and distance. 

3rd. — After breakfast, we accompanied Captain Kent 
to Clifton Mount, a large coffee estate near the summit 
of St. Catherine's Peak, the property of Archibald R. 
Hamilton, a minister of the Established Church in Ire- 
land. The great House of Clifton Mount is situated 
4200 feet above the sea, at an elevation greater than that 
of almost any other residence in the island. The Peak 
rises immediately before it, and as seen from this point 
of view, is perfectly conical in form, and covered with 
forest. It is a conspicuous landmark at sea. The 
distance to the summit does not exceed a mile, but it is 
nearly 700 feet higher than Clifton Mount. Next to the 
Peak is the outline of the still loftier mountain, called 



JAMAICA. 801 

John Crow Hill ; and the eye traces, in the same line, 
the three Peaks of the Blue Mountains, the highest 
summits in Jamaica. The attorney of Clifton Mount, 
Colin Chisholm, accompanied us to the pass called 
Content Gap, from whence is seen a magnificent pros- 
pect of the plain and mountains of Liguanea, the city 
and harbour of Kingston, and the adjacent coasts. We 
rode through the " Gap," and ascended by a spiral path 
to Cold Spring, the ruins of the property and seat of the 
Wallens, celebrated by Bryan Edwards. The thermo- 
meter at this elevation ranges throughout the year from 
44° to 70°. The coffee and tea trees, the Mangolia, 
English and American oaks, firs, cedars, broom, and 
furze, grow here together. The oaks commence their 
hibernation regularly at the same season as in our own 
climate. There are two of the old English variety, of 
which the largest, though still vegetating, was laid pros- 
trate by the tempest of 1815, a period so memorable in 
this mountainous district, that it is employed by the 
negroes as an epoch from whence to date all subsequent 
events. Its effects are still visible, the swollen torrents 
having torn away masses of rock, and carried off the soil 
from the sides of the mountains, leaving, in many places, 
the bare rock or the original earthy strata fully exposed. 
We ascended from Cold Spring nearly to the summit of 
the Peak. The small wild strawberry and blackberry of 
our own country are common at this height, but the 
coffee tree ceases to flourish at a greater elevation than 
4000 or 4500 feet. 

4th. — We left Robertsfield early this morning, and 
called, on our way to Kingston, at the house of S. Bourne, 
where we met R. Chisholm, a planter in his district, who 
has the credit of governing his apprentices with kindness, 
and without the need of stipendiary interference. His 
estate is in excellent order, and very productive ; and he 

2d 



302 JAMAICA. 

assured us he would not take for it one shilling less than 
before the introduction of the apprenticeship. 

6th. — Two special magistrates related to us instances 
of the wanton destruction of the goats belonging to the 
apprentices, by the overseers. In one case, a goat be- 
longing to one of the negroes, which was tied up in a 
gulley, was destroyed by an overseer with his dog. In 
the other, a goat similarly secured, which was big with 
young, was beaten to death by a brutal overseer with 
his stick. Numerous cases have been mentioned to us 
of the hogs and poultry of the negroes being shot by the 
overseers. This species of persecution frequently fol- 
lows as an act of retaliation when the apprentices seek 
the protection of the law. 

9th. — Yesterday we came to Jericho, in the parish of 
St. Thomas in the Vale, to pay a short visit to John 
Clarke, the Baptist missionary, and called wdth him this 
morning on Nicholas Gyles, the proprietor of Recess 
plantation, an individual prominent in the recent con- 
test, which terminated in the dismission of Dr. Palmer 
from the magistracy. He received us courteously, and 
conversed with us for some time on the state of the 
island. Among other signs of the decline of its pros- 
perity, he mentioned the decrease of litigation, which he 
considered a proof that there was little left worth con- 
tending for. He read to us a long letter he had just 
written to a friend in London, describing the ruin of the 
Colony, which concluded with the expression, "that 
without coercion, no good could be done after the ter- 
mination of the apprenticeship." He did not believe 
that his negroes were a worse set of people than on any 
other property, and when a proprietor praised his ap- 
prentices, he considered it a proof that he did not 
manage them himself, for in his own opinion they could 
never be changed nor improved " so long as they were 



JAMAICA. 303 

black." He said that his negroes, whom Dr. Pahner 
had instigated to rebellion, were now building new 
houses for themselves, which was a proof they did not 
mean to leave the estate after 1840, though he intimated 
they might then intend to take forcible possession. Such 
was their inconsistency, that when he advertised Recess 
a short time since for sale, his apprentices came to him 
in a body, and said they did not want to belong to any 
one else. He advertised it as " in a high state of culti- 
vation, notwithstanding circumstances," an expression 
which had been laid hold of, to disprove the charges he 
brought against the administration of Dr. Palmer; but 
this high state of cultivation was secured, he observed, 
by the sacrifice of a part of last year's crop. We re« 
quested to see the negro houses and hospital, to which 
he assented. Several of the former which we entered, 
consisted of three small apartments, which were rude, 
ill-constructed, and dirty; the floors of bare earth, the 
walls were unplastered, and the whole had an air of 
extreme discomfort. He said they were proofs of the 
idleness of the people. In another cottage, we noticed 
and praised the healthy appearance of the free children. 
The proprietor said it was nothing like what it would 
have been in slavery; in 1834 he returned twenty-four 
children under six years of age, out of 120 slaves, and 
that there were fewer free children on the property now. In 
another cottage was a man lying on a mat on the floor, 
evidently very ill from fever, with his arm bound up. His 
master asked him why he did not go to the hospital, he 
rephed, " Because you treat me so ill there, and struck 
me and gave me a kick on the back." We looked at his 
arm, it was affected with erysipelas, and seemed almost 
ready to suppurate; his illness will probably be fatal. 
The proprietor afterwards gave us his version of the 
affair ; the man had come up to the great house to say 
he was sick, and refused to go into the hospital, because 



304 JAMAICA. 

it was a place of confinement. He was put in by force, 
but only stayed about half an hour, when he got out and 
went down to his own hut. The statement of the sick 
man, that disgraceful violence was used towards him, 
was very faintly denied, and indeed rendered still more 
probable by the explanation which was offered. The 
great house on Recess stands on the barbecue on which 
the coffee is dried, and the basement story consists of 
store rooms and the hospital. This last is a small room 
without a window, about six and a half feet high, fur- 
nished only with an inclined plane of boards, on which 
the patients sleep. The door is kept locked, but is worn 
full of holes, which admit light and a little air. There 
was no patient in it, but the effluvia of the apartment 
was still perceptible. One side of it is a place of con- 
finement, which has been most appropriately named by 
the negroes " the coffin." It is constructed by a strong 
wooden partition, thrown across the room at a distance 
of fourteen or sixteen inches from the wall, and with a 
floor elevated sixteen or eighteen inches from the 
ground, so that it is not more than five feet high. From 
these dimensions it is evident that a person could not 
stand upright in it, nor sit without being wedged, nor 
lie in any other position than on the side. When one or 
more prisoners were confined, the heat must have been 
excessive, and the absence of light total. The door had 
been removed, and we were assured by the proprietor 
that it had not been used since 1834. He told us that 
it had saved the life of many a poor dirt eater, and also 
many a negro from more severe punishment. He said 
that it was made many years ago, to punish a woman 
after whose name he had called it, but the negroes, al- 
ways ready with a nickname, had called it " the coffin." 
He also gave us an account of the attempt of Palmer* 

* See Appendix, Section xiii., page 455. 



JAJMAICA. 305 

and Harris, acting under the direction of Lord Sligo, to 
see this celebrated place of punishment ; which attempt 
had created much excitement, having been made the 
foundation of actions in the Island Courts, and a pro- 
minent part of those proceedings which terminated in 
the dismission of Dr. Palmer, and the removal of Harris 
to another part of the island. The proprietor of Recess 
was very bitter against Lewis Grant, one of his appren- 
tices, who was a Baptist, and as he described him, a 
great leader among the other negroes. He regretted 
that he had not shown us a chapel which the negroes 
had built in the negro village, and in which, he informed 
us, they meet every other night, and make a great dis- 
turbance. On a recent occasion, he said, he went there 
while they were holding their meeting, with a cutlass in 
his hand, and ordered his man to follow with a fowling- 
piece, which latter, however, was for the purpose of 
killing a hog ; and that Lewis Grant had since made an 
affidavit, that his master had come to the chapel with 
loaded pistols, and that he was afraid of his life. 

10th. — We took leave this morning of our very kind 
friends at the mission house at Jericho, and proceeded 
to Sligoville, a station in St. Catherine's Mountains, 
attached to the Baptist mission in Spanish Town. We 
were kindly welcomed by J. M. Phillipo. This moun- 
tainous district, though possessing great advantages of 
situation, soil and climate, has been hitherto neglected^ 
and is still wild and uncultivated. The population, 
however, is sufficiently large to supply a numerous at- 
tendance at the mission chapel and school. The pre- 
mises are situated on an eminence, about 2500 feet 
above the sea, and command an extensive prospect on 
all sides. The whole breadth of the island is visible 
from Old Harbour on the south, to Port Antonio on 
the north side. Sligoville derives its name from a finely 

2d 3 



306 JAMAICA. 

situated moimtain residence of the late Governor, in this 
neighbourhood. 

11th. — We returned to Spanish Town early this morn- 
ing by a mountain ride, which is not surpassed by any 
in the island. From their contiguity to the capital, 
these mountains offer delightful situations for villa resi- 
dences, and accordingly, within the last few years, an 
active spirit of improvement has been manifested in the 
district. 

A numerous meeting of the custodes and other leading 
persons from the different parishes, was yesterday held 
to establish a scale of labour, which is a favourite pro- 
ject with Sir Lionel Smith, who carried it into effect in 
Barbadoes contrary to law. Soon after his assumption 
of this government, he directed the planters to form 
committees in their respective parishes, to agree upon 
labour scales, and the present meeting was summoned 
to reduce these to a general standard. No project can 
well be conceived more absurd and impracticable, as 
the greatest variety of soils is found in Jamaica, no two 
parishes, nor scarcely any two estates being precisely 
alike. Notwithstanding such difficulties, a uniform scale 
would probably have been adopted, which would have 
been an engine of cruel oppression, but the design was 
happily defeated by the influence of a planter of su- 
perior intelligence and liberality, who pointed out its 
absurdity, and declared that he found no difficulty, by 
kind treatment, in obtaining a fair and equitable amount 
of labour from the apprentices. As an instance of the 
use to which a scale would have been applied, it may 
be mentioned, that almost immediately after the Go- 
vernor issued his first circular to the parishes, one of the 
special magistrates reported, that certain overseers in 
his district were filling up the ranks of their first or 
strong gangs with weaker labourers ; and compelling 



JA3IAICA. 307 

people to turn out, who had previously ceased to labour 
on account of age or infirmity ; under the expectation 
of being able to extort the work of able-bodied labourers 
from the gangs under the projected scale, estimated by 
their number without any reference to their efficiency.* 

13th. — We saw to-day in Kingston, two intelligent 
negi'oes who had run away from th6ir estate for fear of 
being flogged, pursuant to a sentence of the special 
magistrate. They applied to W. W. Anderson, who 
found their case to be one of peculiar hardship, and 
consented to endeavour to bring it by certiorari under 
the cognizance of the Court of Assize. We obtain- 
ed a copy of their affidavit, which relates the follow- 
ing particulars. Their names are Joseph and Cato 
Smith, and they belong to Robert Jokin, of Torrington 
Pen, in St. Thomas in the East. They are part of a 
jobbing gang of negroes, who work at a distance from 
their homes, to which they return only once a week. 
Their provision grounds v/ere repeatedly trespassed in, 
and their provisions destroyed by the cattle of the estate, 
which were not penned up, nor sufficiently attended to : 
and although they did w^hat they could by making fences, 
it was impossible for them, on account of their long ab- 
sence from home, to prevent or repair the damage sus- 
tained, and they consequently had not sufficient pro\dsion 
for their maintenance. Their master refused to afford 
them any remedy or compensation. They applied to 
special justice Willis, who told them their master was 
not liable for the damage, and they must attend to their 



* Although the project of a scale of labour for the whole island was 
thus abandoned, it by no means followed that the parish scales would 
not be adopted in their respective parishes. The Governor has since 
sanctioned the scale drawn up by the planters of St. Andrew's, and directs 
that it shall be used by the magistrates as a standard, by which to judge 
of complaints of insufficiency of work. For the results which may be 
expected from this measure see Appendix, Section iii., page 386. 



308 JAMAICA. 

grounds themselves. On his refusal to redress their 
grievances, these apprentices, and about sixteen others, 
men and women, vi^ent to Spanish Town to see the 
Governor, but he was absent on a tour of the island, and 
they returned with a letter from special justice Hill to 
the Governor, whom they saw at Golden Grove, where 
he was staying, near their master's property. They 
stated the treatment that they had received, and further, 
that the police had been on the property for some time, 
destroying and living upon the hogs and poultry of the 
apprentices. The Governor directed Alexander Bar- 
clay, a local magistrate, and member . of Assembly for 
the parish, to go upon the property with special justice 
Willis, and see the provision grounds of the apprentices, 
and report their state to him. They accordingly visited 
Torrington some days afterwards, when the gang were 
called up before them. Barclay told them he thought 
they had a good right to what they asked, but that it was 
impossible to give it them, as it would be a bad pre- 
cedent for all the jobbing gangs in the parish. Special 
justice Willis asked their master which were " the two 
Governor's men," and these two negroes were pointed 
out to him. He then said that no king or governor 
should prevent his punishing them, and proceeded to 
sentence seven of the women to the tread-mill, and these 
men and four others to receive fifty lashes each, which 
sentences were carried into effect, except in the case of 
these negroes, Joseph and Cato Smith, who again ran off 
to Spanish Town. They had obtained a letter from the 
Governor's secretary to the special justice. They had 
never been flogged during slavery, and seemed to be in 
such terror, that it appeared as if they could not be in- 
duced to return home, as, in consequence of the ex- 
pressions used by the special justice, they were certain 
they should be flogged, notwithstanding any instructions to 
the contrary in the letter of which they were the bearers. 



JAMAICA. 309 

14th. — We embarked for New York, in the J. W. 
Cater packet. 

Before concluding our journal, it may not be im- 
proper to mention an official investigation, that took 
place during our stay in the Colony, and which af- 
fprds some important illustrations of the condition of 
the negroes. On the 18th of February, an appren- 
tice, named Joe Dawkins, from Spencer's Pen, in St. 
Catherine's parish, came to Spanish Town, to complain 
to special justice Ramsay, that he was threatened 
with punishment by James Dundass, the overseer 
of Molynes, an estate in St. Andrew's, belonging to 
Anthony Davis, residing in England, who is also the 
proprietor of Spencer's Pen. On the 13th instant, he 
(Dawkins) was employed in taking lime to Molynes, 
with a mule and cart, when the axletree broke, and he 
was obliged to put up the cart on an estate by the way. 
He went on and reported the accident to Dundass, who 
behaved with such violence towards him that he ran off 
to Spanish Town for protection. In order to explain 
his fears, he stated that the said Dundass was in the 
habit of maltreating the apprentices on Molynes ; that 
some of them wore riveted iron collars; that Dundass 
put others in the stocks and chained them by the neck to 
a post in the hot house ; that he beat them with his supple- 
jack ; and that a fortnight ago he had caused one of the 
apprentices to be laid down by two of the negroes, while 
a third gave him a severe flogging. On the same day 
an apprentice from Molynes, named James Wine, came 
to Spanish Town to complain to the Governor, and was 
referred to the same special justice. He complained 
that he been turned out of the hospital, and compelled 
to work during severe sickness. He confirmed the state- 
ment of the preceding witness, with the addition, that the 
use of riveted iron collars on the estate was sanctioned 
by Lloyd, the former special justice of the district, who 



310 ' JAMAICA. 

was afterwards removed to another part of the island, 
and by his successor, Captain Brownson, who was, at this 
date, in charge of the district as special magistrate. 
These depositions were reported to the Governor, who 
ordered special justices Kent and Moresby, to proceed 
to Molynes' estate, and inquire into the facts, and into the 
penal discipline in use on the estate. The following is 
an abstract of some of the affidavits of the apprentices. 

John Cum so, " a miserable object with diseased feet," 
states, that he had an iron collar put on his neck by order 
of special justice Lloyd, some time after August, 1834, 
and does not remember when it was taken off. In the 
time of that magistrate, he was frequently put in the 
stocks by Dundass during his half Friday. 

Elsey Lewis deposes, that she was compelled to wear 
an iron collar nearly a year and a half, and that Lloyd 
saw Dundass screw it on. 

William Lake deposes, that four weeks ago he re- 
ceived thirty-nine lashes by order of Captain Brownson, 
who also ordered that the blacksmith should rivet an iron 
collar on his neck, which he has worn ever since, and 
worked in the field. Before he was brought before the 
special justice, he was kept five days and nights in the 
hot house, handcuffed and in the stocks, and was chained 
to a post one of those nights. He did not hear Dundass 
tell the magistrate that he confined him, and he (Lake) 
made no complaint to the magistrate himself. In refer- 
ence also to William Lake's case, there is the follow- 
ing entry in the complaint-book of Molynes' estate: — 
" January 9th, 1837. — William Lake, charged with being 
a runaway, to receive thirty-nine stripes, and to pay back 
eighty days, that he has been absent, and to wear a 
riveted iron collar for six weeks. Signed W. H. Brown- 
son." 

Susan Porter deposes, that since Christmas she was 
confined in the dark room from one o'clock on Wed- 



JAMAICA. 31 1 

nesday, until ten o'clock on the following Friday, 
(two days and nights,) during which time she had no 
food of any sort. She told Captain Brown son, but he 
took no notice of her complaint. She was locked up 
once before, but did not complain to the magistrate. 
About ten months after the 1st of August, 1834, she 
was severely flogged by Mr. Dundass, but did not com- 
plain to the magistrate. She did complain twice to 
Captain Brownson, about two months ago, that she had 
no allowance of food, and no days. He said he would see 
to it, but he did not, and she has nothing to live upon hut 
what her children give her, 

Alexander Notice states, that about four weeks ago 
Dundass caused two of the other apprentices to lay hold 
of him, while a third flogged him severely on the bare 
back with a cat. He was not tried by the special magis- 
trate, and did not go to complain. The same day Dun- 
dass had previously severely beaten him over the head and 
neck with a horsewhip. 

Richard Dawkins deposes, that he was flogged by 
Dundass, and did not go to complain, but ran away; 
for which, w^hen taken, he was locked up in the dark 
room two days before Christmas. He was chained to a 
post and handcuffed ; the chain ran through the handcuff, 

Edward Dawkins deposes, that he has seen William 
Lake and Richard Dawkins in the stocks, with iron col- 
lars round their necks, and a chain passed through the 
collars and fastened to a post, and knows that Susan 
Porter was locked up for several days. They have never 
gone to the magistrate, as they knew they would get no 
right. Never saw Dundass strike any hut the little child- 
ren. The apprentices are often locked up at night, and 
let out in the morning, without ever being brought 
before a special magistrate. 

William Naar states, that he has been so locked up 
himself. He remembers Dundass flogging Richard 



^^^'2 JAMAICA. 

Dawkins, he (Naar) brought the cat out of the house 
to flog him. Dawkins ran away, and when he was 
taken, he was confined in the stocks and chained to a 
post. 

The same facts are reiterated by numerous other 
witnesses. The room in which the apprentices were 
punished, by being handcuffed, put in the stocks, and 
chained by the neck to a post, is described by the fol- 
lowing witnesses. 

Thomas Mumford, the second constable, says, "the 
lock-up place is the hospital, in which is the stocks.'' 

James Daniel, the head constable, "knows of several 
instances of the apprentices being placed in the stocks 
by order of Mr. Dundass, and chained to a post in the 
place of confinement. It is a close place, but not so 
dark." 

Frederick Kramma, a German, employed as a me- 
chanic, and occasionally as a book-keeper, on Molynes , 
states, " that the windows in the hospital were built up 
and loop-holes made, and that the fire-place has been 
lately closed, in consequence of a female apprentice 
making her escape up the chimney. 

James Dennison, the book-keeper, deposes, " the hos- 
pital was closed up before I came to Molynes; what 
were formerly the windows have been converted into 
loop-holes ; it is, in fact, a dark room. Heard Mr, 
Dundass flog the stable hoys last Sunday, because they 
left the grass piece open. Has never seen him flog any 
hut the house people. 

Dundass himself handed in a written statement to the 
magistrates, in which he asserts, the iron collars were 
riveted on the necks of the apprentices by order of the 
special magistrates; that William Lake was confined in 
the stocks and chained to a postyor security, till Captain 
Brownson should visit the property, and try him as a 
runaway; that John Cumso was locked up on Friday 



JAMAICA. 313 

nights, by order of special justice Lloyd. He admits 
having struck Susan Porter with a supplejack ; he admits 
having locked up some of the apprentices without calling 
in the special magistrate ; he admits having flogged 
Alexander Notice. 

The sole remark we think it necessary to make on 
the above disclosures is, that it is apparent that what- 
ever cruelty the negroes on Molynes endured, whether 
flogged, kept without food, put in the stocks, or chained 
by the neck, they never thought of applying to the special 
magistrates of the district, who, they v*^ell knew, would 
afford them no protection. The above inquiry w^as the 
result of the accident of Dundass having threatened and 
assaulted an apprentice on another property, Spencer's 
Pen, who lived in the district of William Ramsay, a 
magistrate of a very different character from Lloyd and 
Brownson. We now come to the immediate bearing of 
this painful subject upon the present condition of the 
apprentices generally. The two stipendiaries, Lloyd 
and Brownson, were dismissed from office by Sir Lionel 
Smith, for having employed the illegal punishment of 
riveted iron collars, and for having suppressed those sen- 
tences in their official reports. The character of their 
general administration of the law may be appreciated 
from the fact, that while they were each accustomed to 
report monthly about 150 cases of punishment, of which 
a large proportion w^ere by flogging, their successors 
reported at the end of the first month, the one nineteen 
and the other fourteen cases, in none of which corporal 
punishment had been inflicted. On the occasion of 
his former removal from his district by Lord Sligo, 
Lloyd received an address of thanks and approbation 
from the magistrates of St. Andrew's; and Brownson, 
who succeeded him in that parish, followed in the 
same steps, and became equally popular. On their 
final dismissal, as above mentioned, they received the 

2 E 



314 JA3IAICA. 

strongest expressions of sympathy from the planters, 
by whom their past conduct was eulogised in the most 
emphatic terms, as will appear from the following ex- 
tracts : — " A farewell dinner was given to Captain 
Brownson, at Halfway Tree, on Thursday, for the pur- 
pose of presenting him with a testimonial of the pa- 
rishioners' respect. A subscription has been also raised 
for the purchase of some memorial, as a tribute of grati- 
tude for his impartial conduct in administering the law 
as special justice." 

Jamaica Despatch, May \st, 1837. 

His colleague received a still more signal mark of 
approbation. The whole parish of Clarendon was 
moved to do him honour, and he was presented with 
the following address : — 

" To Samuel Lloyd, Esq., late special justice for the 
parish of Clarendon, Sec. &c. 

" Sir, — We, the magistrates, freeholders, and other 
inhabitants of the parish of Clarendon, beg leave to 
offer the expression of our unfeigned regret at your dis- 
missal from the special magistracy of this island. We 
deplore this event as a puMic calamity; and when we 
reflect on the disorganised and unsettled state in which 
you found many of the properties in this district, 
(arising from circumstances which led to the removal 
of your predecessor,) we feel, that to your exertions, 
and to the faithful discharge of your official duties, 
we are indebted for our present comparative tranquil- 
lity. Your vigilance, active habits, and address, were 
peculiarly calculated to restore order ; and we ven- 
ture to affirm, that the result of the strictest investi- 
gation would prove creditable to yourself, and show 
that your gi-eat object was the maintenance of proper 
discipline with the least possible severity. V\q shall 



JAMAICA. 315 

always be happy, individually and collectively, to bear 
testimony to your impartiality as a judge. With you, 
the rich and poor, the master and apprentice, had, 
upon all occasions, an equal hearing ; and if at any time 
you have erred, in not rigidly fulfilling all the provisions 
of the Abolition Act, we are satisfied that such error was 
of the head, not of the heart. In 'the execution of your 
arduous duties, you have succeeded in conciliating the 
good opinion of all classes of this community; and we 
trust you may have also gained the approbation of God 
and your own conscience. Wherever fortune may lead 
you, be assured our best wishes will always accompany 
you. 

" William Colleman, Chairman" 

At the meeting at which the above was agreed to, the 
report of the Despatch states : 

" A subscription was immediately entered into, for 
the purpose of affording Mr. Lloyd a substantial proof of 
the estimation and regard he was held in by the com- 
munity in general ; when the following sums (amounting 
to £240) were instantly subscribed by the gentlemen 
present ; and there is not the slightest doubt that treble 
this amount will be raised in the other districts of the 
parish, and this laudable example folloived throughout the 
island." The above show that the pro-slavery feeling in 
Jamaica is as general and as malignant as ever. 

Besides dismissing the magistrates, the Governor di- 
rected the Attorney General to prosecute Dundass, and 
accordingly seven indictments were sent up to the Grand 
Jury against him at the ensuing assizes. True bills were 
found in two of the least important cases only, cases in 
which Dundass had committed himself by admitting the 
facts. The Grand Jury ignored the other five, and made 
the following presentment. 

" With feelings of the deepest regret, we have to ob- 



we view 
we 



316 JAMAICA. 

serve, that in the examinations of the several witnesses 
from Molynes estate, we have found great discrepancy 
and contradiction, particularly as relates to five of the 
seven indictments, preferred against James Dundass, 
overseer of the said estate, the evidence not at all bearing 
out the charges set forth.^ 

" We also humbly conceive, that charges of so light and 
frivolous a nature, as appeared from the evidence ad- 
duced, should have been referred to the special magis- 
trates, who are the judges appointed by law to take 
cognizance of them, or to the petty courts of the 
country. 

" We feel the greatest pride, on all occasions, fear- 
lessly to perform our duty to our country, but 
with alarm these appearances of persecution, and 
deprecate the introduction of a system so effectually calcu- 
lated to destroy all confidence between the employer and the 
employed, so ruinous in point of expense to the subject, and 
so prejudicial to the interests of the island at large. 

"Thomas M'Cornock, Foreman'^ 

* An intelligent individual, intimately acquainted with the circum- 
stances, writes as follows : — " Mr. Dundass, immediately on the investi- 
gation closing, was so satisfied that he must stand condemned before a 
jury of his country, that he got his brother to write a letter to Mr. Daly, 
the county Inspector, requesting him to use his influence with the At- 
torney General to instruct that the prosecutions should be tried in the 
Court of Quarter Sessions, alleging, that some personal dislike which the 
Chief Justice had towards him gave him no expectation but that of a 
severe sentence at his hands. At this time there was no imputation of 
perjury against the apprentices, on whose evidence he and the magis- 
trates were judged guilty, nothing on which he could raise the cry of 
persecution, no features in the proceedings to be deprecated, as calcu- 
lated to destroy all confidence between the extreme classes of society ; 
yet how strikingly does the scheme of persuading the Attorney General 
to turn over the cases to the Quarter Sessions tally with the presentment 
of the Grand Jury, that they were of a nature for reference to the petty 
courts of the country ? This looks like artifice and contrivance, not on 
the part of the apprentices, but on that of the overseer and the Grand 
Inquest of the country. 



JAMAICA. 317 

We would call attention to two points in this present- 
ment; the atrocities with which Dundass is charged are 
characterised as "light and frivolous;" and, secondly, it 
is glaringly evident, from the concluding paragraph of 
their presentment, that this Grand Jury of planters looked 
not solely to the evidence laid before them, but to the 
bearing of the proceedings against Dundass on the 
planting interests of the island at large ; interests which 
are thus identified with a system of cruel and hateful 
coercion. 



2e 3 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE RESULTS OF THE APPRENTICESHIP IN JAMAICA.* 

The preceding chapters contain our own observations on 
the condition of the negroes ; and in the Appendix, page 
384, will be found authentic information on various import- 
ant subjects included in our inquiry. In the 4th section of 
the Appendix, there is especially a large amount of the 
testimony of the negroes themselves respecting their 
sufferings and treatment. Such is the nature of the 
evidence we have to lay before the public, as the result 
of a personal investigation of the mode in which the 
present system is administered, in almost every part of 
the island, and on plantations comprising every kind of 
cultivation^ 

The reader will form his own opinion respecting what 
we deem to be the internal evidence of the authenticity 
and truth of the statements of the apprentices them- 
selves ; but it is important to add, that the great majority 
of the negroes, whose testimony we have cited, are in- 
telligent, and of good character; many of them are 
connected with religious societies, and are known to 
the missionaries, or other persons of respectabihty, 
with whom we had the advantage of communicating. 

* Although the following ohservations relate only to Jamaica, there is 
reason to believe that the condition of the negroes in some of the other 
colonies, particularly in Demerara and Trinidad, is still worse than in 
Jamaica itself. 



JAMAICA. 319 

Their statements are consistent with each other ; they 
are in accordance with the facts which came under our 
own notice, and with the concurrent evidence of other 
resident witnesses of unimpeachable veracity. It only 
remains, therefore, that we should present the results of 
our mission in a condensed form, so as to enable the 
public to judge how far those benefits have been realised 
to the negroes, which were purchased for them by the 
nation, for the sum of twenty millions sterling. 

It is well kno\\Ti, that the measure so undeservedly 
termed an Act for the Abolition of Slavery,* was op- 
posed to the views of those who objected on principle 
to slavery ; whose exertions had excited general public 
sympathy for the oppressed, and at length urged the 
question of abolition on the attention of an unwilling 
Government. They could not have done otherwise 
than protest, as they did, against a law, which declared 
slavery to be for ever abolished, and the slaves set free, 
subject to such exceptions as created a new kind of 
slavery, under the name of apprenticeship ; an anoma- 
lous condition, in which the negroes were continued, 
under a system of coerced and unrequited labour. Nor, 
although they might have concurred in the grant of a 
liberal relief to the proprietors, whom slavery had ruined, 
in order to enable them to commence a better system, 
under more favourable auspices, could they have avoided 
protesting! against the acknowledgment of their claim 

* '' We entreat his Majesty's ministers not to contemplate any im- 
perfect measure of Emancipation. We are deeply convinced that the 
negro must be fully restored to his rights, and that no scheme of Eman- 
cipation, which would leave him half a slave and half a freeman, would 
tend materially either to his own benefit, or to the tranquillity of the 
colonies."— Memorial to Earl Grey, signed and presented by the three 
hundred and thirty-nine Anti-Slavery Delegates, April 19th, 1833. 

f " The metropolitan committees feel it expedient to call your atten- 
tion pointedly to the distinction they have drawn between compensation 
and relief. They wholly and absolutely disclaim the principle of com- 



320 JAMAICA. 

to "Compensation," by which, for the first time, the 
British statute-book was disgraced, by the formal recog- 
nition of the right and lawfulness of slavery. These 
were fatal objections to the new scheme; and the event 
has proved that they were not merely of a theoretical 
character.* The simple declaration by the Imperial 
Legislature, of the inherent personal and civil rights of 
the negroes, as fellow-subjects under the British crown, 
as equal members of the human family, and endowed 
with the same physical and moral capacities, would have 
insured those rights some degree of respect from the 
local authorities and the planters, by whom they are now 
trodden upon. 

However, for the sake of our argument, we will sup- 
pose that the Act for the Abolition was such a measure 
as the public voice demanded, a measure consistent with 
humanity and justice. In this point of view, it appears 
in the light of a great national compact, in which the 
British nation covenanted to pay twenty millions sterling, 
for the purchase of the liberty of the slaves in the West 
India colonies, the Mauritius, and the Cape of Good 
Hope, in the years 1838 and 1840 ; and for the estab- 
lishment, in the interim, of a modified and mitigated 
servitude, which should be an advantageous state of 
transition to unrestricted freedom. It remains, there- 
fore, to inquire, how far the provisions of this costly 
measure have been carried out, and to compare the con- 

pensation ; they deny that it is due ; they protest against its payment ; 
they consider compensation to be directly opposed to the very principles 
upon which the title to Emancipation is founded." — Circular of the Lon- 
don Anti-SFavery Committees, April 4th, 1833. 

* "If the debt of immutable justice be paid in full to the injured 
slave, a humane and considerate people will readily concur in all such 
reasonable measures for the relief of the planter, or of individual cases of 
distress, as may meet with the approbation of the British Parliament." — 
Memorial to Earl Grey, signed by the three hundred and thirty-nine 
Delegates, Aprill9th, 1833. 



JAMAICA. 321 

dition created in theory, by its stipulations, with the 
actual state of the slave population in Jamaica. 

The first clause of the Act, premising the justice and 
expediency of the abolition of slavery, and of compen- 
sation to slave masters, declares, that it is expedient to 
make provision for securing the industry and good con- 
duct of the manumitted slaves for a' limited period; and 
that it is necessary to afford time for the adaptation of the 
local colonial laws to a state of freedom. It therefore 
enacts, that all persons who, on the first of August, 1834, 
shall have been duly registered as slaves, and shall 
appear on the registry to be six years old or upwards, 
shall from that day become apprenticed labourers. We 
have already shown, that the non-registered slaves are 
also detained in apprenticeship in direct violation of this 
enactment. 

The second clause enacts, that all persons, who would 
for the time being have been entitled to the services of 
the slaves, if this Act had not been made, shall be en- 
titled to their services as apprenticed labourers. No 
other services are thus transferred to the slave-masters 
than what the colonial laws secured to them under the 
previous system. By those laws, the mothers of six or 
more living children were exempted from field labour, 
and provided with " an easy and comfortable mainte- 
nance ;" but under the apprenticeship, this class of slaves, 
including, in numerous instances, individuals who have 
been for years in the enjoyment of their exemptions, 
have been turned into the field, and coerced to the per- 
formance of the severest kind of labour. 

The fourth clause of the Act divides the apprenticed 
labourers into three distinct classes : — predials attached^ 
or those, " who, in their state of slavery, were usually 
employed in agriculture, or in the manufacture of colo- 
nial produce, or otherwise upon lands belonging to their 
owners :" — predials unattached^ who were employed in 



322 JAMAICA. 

like manner " upon lands not belonging to their 
owners;" and non-predials, " comprising all apprenticed 
labourers not included within either of the two pre- 
ceding classes." It is also provided, " that no person 
of the age of twelve years and upwards shall be included 
in either of the said two classes of predial apprenticed 
labourers, unless such person shall for twelve calendar 
months at the least, next before the passing of this pre- 
sent Act, (viz. from August 28th, 1832, to August 28th, 
1 833, ) have been habitually employed in agriculture or 
the manufacture of colonial produce." The fifth clause 
declares, that the predial apprentices shall become free 
on the 1st of August, 1840; and the sixth, that the non- 
predials shall be emancipated on the 1st of August, 
1838. The slaves between the ages of six and thirteen 
years are left by these clauses to be classed as pre- 
dials, or non-predials, at the pleasure of their owners. 
The classification of the apprentices has been hitherto 
left undetermined, on a vast majority of the estates 
in Jamaica, and in the meantime great numbers 
of the non-predials have been defrauded of their 
rights. The very numerous body of apprentices called 
estates' tradesmen, including the coopers, carpenters, 
masons, smiths, &c., are, by common consent, deemed 
and taken to be predials ; notwithstanding the express 
words of the law, that none shall be so classed who were 
not, during the twelvemonth specified, " habitually em- 
ployed in agriculture, or the manufacture of colonial 
produce." Such of them as have purchased their free- 
dom by valuation have been rated at an excessive daily 
or yearly value, multiplied by the full term of days or 
years of the predial apprenticeship. In many instances, 
even the domestic slaves have been made predials;* 

* We have already quoted the expression of a local magistrate of 
Vere, that in that important and populous parish the class of non- 
predials has been abolished by the planters. 



JAMAICA. 323 

and numerous cases are given in the Appendix, page 384, 
and in other parts of this volume, of domestics being 
turned into the field by their owners or overseers. A 
local Act was passed during our stay in the Colony, to 
enable the planters to carry a fraudulent classification 
still more extensively into effect. The rights of the non- 
predials have been hitherto violated with impunity ; and 
the great majority of them will be forcibly detained in 
bondage beyond the 1st of August, 1838. 

The seventh clause of the Abolition Act empowers 
masters to manumit their apprentices. A few noble 
minded individuals have availed themselves of this 
power of manumission, the only privilege which a slave- 
master, as such, can exercise with a safe conscience. 
Many members of the Baptist churches in Jamaica, 
some of whom were dependent on the labour of a few 
negroes for subsistence, have recently, from conscien- 
tious motives, set their apprentices free, and the mis- 
sionaries of that denomination anticipate, that their 
several churches will soon be clear of the sin of slave- 
holding. If it be unlawful to take the fruit of the 
labourer's toil without payment, whether he is called 
a free man, a slave, or an apprentice, we would com- 
mend the conduct of these few, poor, despised, coloured 
Christians, to the imitation of the wealthy, liberal, and 
professedly Christian apprentice- owners residing in Eng- 
land. The seventh clause provides, that in case of the 
voluntary discharge of aged or infirm labourers, the 
masters are to continue liable for their support ; a pro- 
vision which might have been spared in Jamaica, as the 
aged or infirm apprentices on the plantations are sup- 
ported by their own relations and friends. They receive 
nothing from their owners but a few shillings' worth of 
clothing once a year, medical attendance during illness, 
and, where the proprietor is unusually indulgent, a small 
weekly allowance of salt fish. 



324 JAMAICA. 

The eighth clause relates to the compulsory manu- 
mission of apprentices by valuation ; which it enacts 
shall be effected in the manner and form to be pre- 
scribed by the local laws of the colonies. The mode 
adopted in Jamaica is the following : — A negro informs 
the special justice of his district of his wish to pur- 
chase his discharge from apprenticeship. The special 
justice gives fourteen days' notice of the intended valu- 
ation to the owner, who appoints a local magistrate to 
unite with the special justice ; these two magistrates 
choose a third local magistrate, and thus constitute a 
tribunal for determining the valuation. It is needless 
to offer any comment on the character of a tribunal 
composed of two local magistrates, who are almost in- 
variably planters and friends of the master, and one 
special magistrate, who possibly may be an impartial 
and humane functionary, but who is too often com- 
pletely subservient to the wishes of the stronger party. 
The master and other witnesses give evidence on oath 
of the daily or yearly value of the negro's services, 
which is multiplied by his term of apprenticeship. The 
result, from which one-third is generally, though not 
always, deducted for contingencies of life and health, is 
the amount of the valuation. When the three magis- 
trates differ in their estim.ates, it is customary to add 
their several amounts together, and take an average of 
the total sum as the value of the apprentice. Having 
witnessed numerous valuations in different parts of the 
island, we are enabled to speak with confidence respect- 
ing the considerations which, in the estimation both of 
witnesses and magistrates, usually determine the value 
of the services of apprentices. The contingent loss is 
taken into account, which the master may sustain from 
the difficulty of replacing a labourer. If the apprentice 
is stated to be honest, intelligent, and industrious, he is 
rated proportional-ly higher. If he has ever been era- 



JAMAICA. 325 

ployed for a short time, as a mechanic, or if by his own 
ingenuity he has taught himself any handicraft business, 
he is valued accordingly, although his habitual employ- 
ment may have been that of a common field labourer. 
Lastly, the profit, real or imaginary, which the master 
would have made by the labour of the apprentices, 
during the remaining term of years, is taken into ac- 
count ; and a temporary advance in the price of colonial 
produce, in the European markets, though it would not 
aifect the price of labour in the Colony, would instantly 
occasion an increase in the valuations. The negroes, in 
short, who wish to become free, are rated at higher 
prices than they were worth as slaves ; and these prices 
do not diminish as the term of apprenticeship lessens. 
In many instances, a negro could have purchased his 
freedom for a much smaller sum on the 1 st of August, 
1834, than that which, after one or more years of un- 
compensated service, he has been compelled to pay for 
the remaining term. In these proceedings, the colonists 
stand self-convicted of fraud; for the wages which they 
pay for the apprentices' extra labour is in no kind of 
proportion to the price which they put upon their ser- 
vices at valuation. During crop time, extra labour, 
equivalent to from two to three working days per week, 
is often remunerated by a sum scarcely equal to the 
sworn value of half a day's labour. Notwithstanding, 
therefore, the immense sacrifices which the negroes are 
willing to make for freedom, numbers who are anxious 
to be valued are still detained in bondage, and those 
who succeed in effecting their release, are crippled in 
their resources, or involved in debt, from which years 
of assiduous toil may fail to relieve them. 

Instead of continuing to examine the clauses of the 
Act seriatim^ we will devote our remaining space to a 
few principal considerations. 

The Imperial Act regulates the labour of the appren- 
2 F 



S26 JAMAICA. 

tices in the following manner, (c. v.) No predial ap- 
prentice shall be bound or liable to perform any labour 
in the service of his master, for more than forty-five 
hours in the whole, in any one week : from which, in 
case the apprentice supports himself by cultivating a 
provision ground^ (c. xi.,) such portions of time shall be 
deducted, " as shall be adequate for the proper culti- 
vation of such ground, and for securing the crops 
thereon grown." The time deemed sufficient for these 
purposes is four hours and a half per week, so that 
the amount of labour required from the apprentices in 
Jamaica is forty and a half hours in the week. The 
Colonial Legislature is required (c. xvi.) to frame the 
necessary regulations for insuring to the apprentice the 
enjoyment of his own time for his own benefit; for se- 
curing exactness in the computation of the time during 
which he is required to labour for his owner ; to make 
the necessary provision for preventing the imposition of 
task-work, without the free consent of the apprentice to 
undertake the same; and for enforcing the due perform- 
ance of voluntary contracts on the part of the apprentice 
for labour in his own time. The reader will find nu- 
merous proofs in this volume, that, instead of forty hours 
and a half per week, from forty-five to fifty hours are 
statedly exacted from the apprentice in ordinary course. 
The enjoyment of his own time for his own benefit is 
not insured to him. No regulations exist to secure ex- 
actness in the computation of time ; and his days, instead 
of eight and nine working hours, frequently extend from 
nine to eleven hours. Compulsory task-w-ork, so ex- 
pressly declared to be illegal, is frequently enforced ; 
and to an extent, as it has been our painful duty to re- 
cord, in numerous instances, avowedly equal to what 
was exacted under the former system, when there was 
no legal limitation of the hours of labour. We have 
also seen, that it has been a favourite policy with Sir 



JAMAICA. 327 

Lionel Smith, to cause the adoption, throughout the 
island, of " a scale of work," by which labour would be 
regulated by quantity, and not by time, in such a mode 
as would render the oppressive exaction universal. In 
crop time, which extends on sugar estates over a period 
of from three to six months, the negroes have to perform 
an immense amount of extra labout, sometimes by spells 
of twelve, sixteen, and even twenty-four hours' length ; 
and estates are instanced in the Appendix, on which the 
mule-boys and sugar-boilers work continuously for six 
days and nights, snatching a few minutes' rest during 
the short intervals of their toil. All this extra labour 
and night-work is sometimes obtained by the coercive 
powers of the special magistrate, without any remu- 
neration; sometimes it is extorted for a trifling and 
most inadequate payment, under the sanction of pre- 
tended agreements. Very efficient regulations have been 
framed to enforce voluntary contracts, and the same are 
used also to enforce fictitious and pretended conti'acts, 
for the labour of the apprentices. The Act declares, 
(c. xxi.,) that apprentices shall not be compelled to work 
on Sundays, except in certain specified cases of neces- 
sity; but in consequence of their being fraudulently 
deprived of their time, as above stated, and of the mulcts 
imposed on them by the special magistrates, they are 
frequently compelled by want to work their provision 
grounds on the Sabbath. With regard, therefore, to the 
labour of the apprentices, we are brought to the conclu- 
sion, that not only is every provision of the Imperial 
Act violated, but the requirements of a much higher 
law are openly contemned. The planters may be em- 
phatically addressed in the language of the apostle 
James : " The hire of your labourers who have reaped 
down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, 
crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped are 
entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth." 



328 JAMAICA, 

We come next to consider the maintenance of 
the apprentices. By the Imperial Act (c. xi.) a pro- 
prietor is required to provide his apprentices with 
" such food, clothing, lodging, medicine, medical attend- 
ance, and such other, maintenance and allowances" 
as by any local law he was required to provide his slaves. 
The burden is thrown (c. xvi.) upon the Colonial Legis- 
lature, of making the necessary regulations to secure 
punctuality and method, in the supply to the negroes, 
of such food, clothing, &c. ; and for determining " the 
amount and quality of all such articles, in cases ichere the 
laws at present existing in any such colony may not, in the 
case of slaves^ have made any regulation^ or any adequate 
regulation for that purposed Where the apprentices are 
supported by the cultivation of provisions for themselves, 
the master is required to provide them " with ground 
adequate, both in quantity and quality," for their support, 
and within reasonable distance of their usual places of 
abode ; and to allow them out of the forty-five hours per 
week, a portion of time, adequate for the proper culti- 
vation of such ground, and for securing the crops thereon 
grown. The Colonial Legislature is required (c. xvi.) 
to make the regulations necessary to secure these several 
objects. The Jamaica Abolition Act, sanctioned by the 
home Government, enacts, (c. xvi.,) that the apprentices 
shall be supplied with the same food, clothing, lodging, 
&c., as by the Slave Act the master was required to 
supply to his slaves; and (c. xlvi.) that all grounds 
hitherto allotted to the slaves shall be deemed suitable 
in quantity, quality, and distance from their homes, for 
their maintenance as apprentices; that (c. xlviii.) four 
hours and a half, out of the forty-five hours labour per 
week, shall be allotted for the cultivation of such grounds ; 
and (c. xlviii.) where the grounds, from drought or other 
casualty, become unproductive, that the owner shall, by 
other ways or means, make " good and ample provision" 



JAMAICA. 329 

for the support of his apprentices, in the trifling penalty, 
in this last case, of 24s. sterling for each infraction of the 
law. 

The agricultural slaves in Jamaica were always main- 
tained by cultivating provision grounds, and by the 
weekly distribution of an allowance of herrings, or other 
salt fish ; and in the case of invalids, pregnant women, 
and mothers, of a small quantity of flour or oatmeal, 
rice, sugar, &c. Certain other arrangements, necessary 
to the welfare, and even the subsistence of the negroes, 
were sanctioned by general custom in the Colony. Thus, 
a watchman was provided for the provision grounds, in 
order to prevent the crops from being destroyed by the 
trespass of cattle, or plundered by idle and improvident 
slaves ; and one of the women was employed as a field- 
cook and water-carrier, to prepare the breakfasts and 
dinners of the gangs in the field, in order that their 
meal-times might be also intervals of rest, and to carry 
water for them, to quench the thirst created by exhaust- 
ing labour under a burning sun. " The first act of the 
proprietors after the first of August," observes Dr. Mad- 
den, (who attentively watched the progress of events, 
during a period immediately preceding and following the 
introduction of the apprenticeship,) "was to take away 
all those allowances and customary gratuities from the ne- 
groes, which were not literally specified in the new law." 
It must be observed, that it was the local Abolition Act 
that was deficient in these particulars, as all those allow- 
ances were continued to the negroes, by the spirit and 
even the letter of the Imperial Act, as above quoted. 
The Attorney General, Dowell O'Reilly, who has dis- 
charged the diflicult duties of his office in trying 
times, honestly and firmly, at the expense of his pri- 
vate interests, and with little support from the Govern- 
ment with which he is associated, gave his opinion, that 
the apprentices were entitled to the slave allowances, and 
2 F 3 



330 JA3IAICA. 

for the following reasons : — that the Abolition Law was a 
remedial act, and could not be so construed as to place 
the apprentices in a worse situation than they were in 
before ; that slavery itself is and was contrary to com- 
mon law : and as it derived its validity from custom, so 
might the apprentices invoke custom in support of their 
claim to these allowances. The planters immediately 
submitted a case to the ex- Attorney General, himself a 
planter, who gave his opinion in the following terms : — 
" I am of opinion, that under the Abolition Act the ap- 
prentices are not entitled to the indulgences and allow- 
ances above alluded to. The 16th section of the Act 
gives them the same ' food, clothing, medicine, medical 
attendance, and such other maintenance and allowances' 
as the owner was required to supply a slave by the ' Act 
for the government of slaves.' Now, on referring to this 
Act, it will be found, that the only clauses on the sub- 
ject are the 11th, l-2th, 13th, and 17th, neither of which 
specify or require the allowances above-mentioned (salt 
fish, &c.) to be given to the negroes. The 11th pro- 
vides, that owners, &c., shall inspect the provision 
grounds, and, where the negro grounds are unproduc- 
tive, or there is no land proper for provisions, shall by 
some other ways or means, make ' good and ample pro- 
vision for all such slaves as they shall be possessed of, 
in order that they may be properly maintained and sup- 
ported,' leaving the mode and nature of the support to the 
discretion of the owner. The 12th clause requires every 
owner to provide proper and sufficient clothing, to be ap- 
proved by the vestry. The 13th requires an affida^-it, 
that the grounds have been inspected, and that every 
negro is sufficiently provided with grounds, or, ' where 
there are no grounds, with ample provisions,' as requii'ed 
by the 11th section. The 17th section compels every 
owner to provide infirm and disabled negroes with suffi- 
cient clothing and wholesome necessaries of life." Such 



JAMAICA. 



331 



are the vague and valueless provisions which have been 
accepted by the British Government, in satisfaction of 
the stipulations of the Imperial Act. The ex- Attor- 
ney General continues : — " The 8th section of the Act in 
aid of the Abolition Act, passed on the 2nd of July last, 
has no clause respecting allowances to the apprentices, 
except the 8th, relative to sick apprentices, who, under 
it, are to have the same medical care and attention as 
has heretofore been customary. It is clear, therefore, 
that by the Slave Act, an owner is not obliged to give any 
of the above allowances, but merely to provide sufficient 
grounds, Jit for the cultivation of provisions,''^ It will now 
be asked, which of these opposite opinions prevailed on 
a question affecting so nearly the interests and welfare of 
the apprentices? We regret to say, that the Govern- 
ment did not enforce that of its own responsible legal 
adviser ; and that the extracts we have given from the 
opinion of his rival, have decided the condition of the 
apprentices with regard to maintenance, in fact as well 
as in law. The negroes have either been generally de- 
prived of these allowances, now called, with bitter truth, 
"the indulgences of slavery;" or their partial continu- 
ance has been made the pretext of extorting a far more 
than equivalent value in extra labour, over and above 
that which the apprentices are required by law to per- 
form. These indulgences, it must be remarked, were not 
indulgences under the former system; they were granted 
by the master for his own interest's sake, as necessary 
to the health of his slaves, who subsisted as they do still, 
chiefly on farinaceous roots, cultivated by their own 
hands. With regard, also, to the four hours and a half 
allowed for the cultivation of the provision grounds, it 
cannot be for a moment believed, that that amount of 
time is sufficient for the negroes to provide the means 
of a week's subsistence. In this point, also, the planters 
stand self- convicted of fraud, for on most su^ar estates 



332 JAMAICA. 

the half Friday, ostensibly granted as adequate to pro- 
vide food for an entire week, is taken back for a trifling 
weekly allowance of five or six herrings, the least con- 
siderable part of his necessary support. In those parts 
of the island where the eight hour system of labour is 
adopted — a system which is usually a mere pretext for 
defrauding the apprentices of time — the four hours and 
a half are so distributed over several days as to render 
it impossible that he should employ the time for the 
purposes assigned. The provision grounds of the ap- 
prentices are from one to fifteen miles distant from their 
houses ; but in no case is any allowance of time made, 
on account of their distance, for going and returning. 
The watchmen have, in numerous instances, been taken 
away, and the provision grounds consequently ruined by 
plunder, or the trespass of cattle, for which injuries, 
though reduced to starvation, the apprentices have no 
redress. In some cases, they have suffered to such an 
extent from these causes as to be compeUed to throw up 
their grounds, and to depend for subsistence on the most 
casual and insufficient resources. On many estates the 
negroes have been deprived of their field cooks, and 
thus compelled to labour throughout the day without 
food. The domestic apprentices, who were, and stiU are 
supported in the same manner as the agricultural slaves, 
by cultivating provision grounds, were entitled under the 
former system to the same amount of time for their own 
benefit ; viz., one day in a fortnight, in addition to the 
two Sabbaths, or two days in lieu of them ; now they are 
allowed only one day in a fortnight to provide them- 
selves the means of subsistence, and are liable to render 
service at all other times, by day or by night, as well as 
on the Sabbath. To these several considerations it 
must be added, that during illness, the apprentices are 
supported by themselves or their relatives, and that their 
young families and aged relatives are also dependent on 



JAMAICA. 333 

them for support. Their poultry and other live stock 
are frequently wantonly destroyed by the overseers ; and 
the small portion of time which is left to them for pro- 
curing the necessaries of life, is diminished, not only by 
the frauds practised on them by their owners, but by the 
mulcts of the special magistrates. The great bulk of 
the apprentices, therefore, are notj and under such a 
system cannot be, sufficiently maintained. A large pro- 
portion of them are wholly, or in part, dependent for 
support on their fellow-apprentices, and many of them 
are suffering from the pressure of actual want* 

In the article of clothing, the authority already 
quoted requires " every owner to provide proper and 
sufficient clothing, to be approved by the vestry." The 
distribution is in effect regulated, in quantity and quality, 
by the disposition of the owner or his representative. 
A considerable proportion of the expense of their 
clothing falls upon the apprentices themselves. The 
head negroes, in particular, do not wear the coarse ar- 
ticles which are distributed to them. It is well under- 
stood, we believe, by the merchants, that the demand 
for these coarse fabrics will not long survive the ap- 
prenticeship, but will be replaced by others of better 
manufacture. 

The medical attention to which the negroes are le- 
gally entitled is accorded to them in the same imperfect 
and grudging measure as the means of subsistence. The 
neglect and oppression of the sick is a frequent subject 
of complaint with the negroes, and of comparisons of 
the former and present system, very unfavourable to the 

* While these sheets are passing through the press, the Jamaica papers 
recently arrived contain the most serious complaints of the scarcity and 
excessive prices of provisions. The markets are chiefly supplied by the 
apprentices with the surplus produce of their grounds, but from the 
causes we have cited, these supplies have gradually diminished, until the 
effects of the new system are at length severely felt even by the free po- 
pulation of the island. 



334 JAMAICA. 

latter. The medical men, imbued with colonial habits 
and prejudices, and dependent on the planters for pro- 
fessional income, are, in most instances, subservient 
agents of oppression. On many of the smaller proper- 
ties there is no hospital nor medicine chest, and the 
apprentices are frequently left destitute of medical treat- 
ment, or have to sustain the expense of it themselves. 
The Act in aid of the Abolition Act (c. viii.) declares, 
" that the apprentices shall be subject to all such neces- 
sary sanatory restraint and control as the medical at- 
tendant shall direct." This clause is made the pretext 
of converting many of the hospitals into places of con- 
finement. They are kept locked by day as well as by 
night, the inmates being deprived of even the occasional 
attentions of their nearest relatives. " Sanatory re- 
straint" has been sometimes held to include confine- 
ment in the stocks and bilboes.* An upright special 
magistrate is, in these cases, brought into angry col- 
lision both with overseers and medical men. Invalid 
apprentices are not supplied with any allowance of food 
from the estates. 

The condition of the free children is another im- 
portant feature of the present system. All who on the 
first of August were under six years of age, were de^ 
clared unconditionally free, but were left liable, (c. xiii,,) 
in case of destitution, to be apprenticed by the special 
magistrate to the owner of their parents, till twenty-one 
years of age. This was undoubtedly one of the most 
dangerous parts of the Abolition Bill, as such an appren- 
ticeship of the rising generation involved the indefinite 

* One of the missionaries informed us, that on one occasion, having 
been requested to visit an apprentice member of his church, who was 
very ill in the estate's hospital, he found him with his feet in shackles. 
We have already mentioned a medical order, entered in a plantation 
book, as quoted in one of the special magistrates' reports, "that the 
patients with sore feet should be kept in the stocks." 



JAMAICA. 335 

continuance of slavery. Through the constancy of the 
parents, all the attempts to procure the apprenticeship 
of the children have been defeated, though at an expense 
of infant life, and of an amount of suffering to mothers 
which cannot be computed. Let it not be forgotten, 
that the free children are solely dependent on their 
mothers for support, and that the latter have only one 
day and a half in the week to cultivate ground for this 
purpose; an insufficient amount of time, which is still 
further reduced by the frauds of overseers and the 
mulcts of special magistrates. The evils and the suf- 
fering which spring from this state of things are be- 
coming daily more aggravated as time advances. Every 
birth increases the difficulty to the negro mother, of 
providing maintenance for her offspring, and of escaping 
punishment herself. The injurious consequences to the 
interests of proprietors, and of the public, from the pre- 
sent position of the free children, have been adverted to 
in various parts of the present work. 

The treatment of pregnant women and nursing 
mothers is another feature of the apprenticeship, by 
which it is unfavourably distinguished even from the 
worst aspect of slavery. The indulgences which their 
situation required were, under the former system, im- 
perfectly guaranteed to them, by the sordid interests of 
their owners. Women advanced in pregnancy were con- 
fined to light employment, and for weeks immediately 
preceding and succeeding their delivery, they were suf- 
fered to cease work; and when at length required to 
return to the field, were permitted, at proper intervals, 
to quit their labour and attend to the wants of their 
infants. All these indulgences have been curtailed, and 
in many instances abolished, to the very extent of the 
capacity of the human frame for the endurance of suf- 
fering. On many plantations, they are kept in the field, 



336 JAMAICA. 

sometimes working in jobbing gangs many miles from 
their homes, to the day of their deUvery, and are hurried 
back again to field labour, as soon as exhausted nature 
can be tasked to the exertion. In many instances, 
nurses and midwives must be provided at the expense 
of the apprentices themselves, and they receive none 
of the minor " indulgences" of flour, rice, or suga,r, 
and mothers are not suffered to leave the field to give 
nourishment to their infants. If the Abolition Act 
possessed a single feature which tended more than 
another to reconcile the nation to the costly sacrifice 
of twenty millions, it was the advantages it appeared 
to confer on the weaker sex, whom it professed, by ex- 
empting them from degrading punishment, to elevate at 
least one step towards that position which reason and 
humanity require that they should occupy. Widely 
different, however, is the law enacted by the Imperial 
Legislature from the same law as carried into effect by 
the executive Government, and by which the oppression 
and degradation of females are sanctioned and aggra- 
vated. The Imperial Act (c. vi.) expressly interdicts 
the flogging of females, yet the present volume contains 
proof, in addition to much that has already come before 
the public from other sources, that females have been 
and still are flogged upon the tread-mill, and that the 
tread-mill itself is an instrument of torture. They are 
publicly worked in the penal gang, chained to each other, 
and with iron collars on their necks ; besides being 
liable to the punishment of solitary confinement with an 
insufficient diet, and to mulcts of time, by which they 
are deprived of the means of providing food for them- 
selves and their children. All these punishments, 
women in a state of pregnancy, and others with infants 
at the breast, endure in their full proportion. We leave 
it to those who may be qualified for the decision, to 



JAMAICA. 337 

balance the severity and degradation of the tread-mill 
and the chain-gang, with the punishments by which the 
unrequited labour of females was formerly extorted. 

As the principle of fair and honest remuneration 
for work performed has no place in the apprenticeship 
scheme, our next object will be to take a general view 
of the penal discipline, by which the labour of the negroes 
is enforced. The Imperial Act abolishes the powers of 
punishment, heretofore irresponsibly exercised by the 
master, and removes the apprentice from the jurisdic- 
tion of all authorities in the island, except the superior 
civil and criminal courts. It lodges the necessary 
powers, both for his coercion and protection, in the 
hands of a class of magistrates specially appointed by 
the King, and salaried by the British nation. The task. 
of arranging the details of their administration is im- 
posed upon the Colonial Legislature. Of the local Abo- 
lition Act, in reference to this subject, it may be ob- 
served, that, while it does not contain a single explicit 
enactment securing to the apprentice the necessaries of 
life, and the enjoyment of his own time for his own 
benefit, and while, so far as his interests and protection 
are concerned, it is destitute of an " executory principle," 
yet such are the number and severity of its penal enact- 
ments, for the offences of apprentices, both circumstan • 
tially defined, and of a vague and general character, that 
it is probably the most highly penal law that ever dis- 
figured the statute-book of the Colony. Our present con- 
cern, however, is rather with the practical administration 
of the law, than the law itself. We would first observe, 
that the local magistrates, in violation of the law, still 
exercise a jurisdiction over the apprentices, both in their 
individual capacity, and when sitting in petty and quarter 
sessions; and that in particular when an apprentice is 
sent to the workhouse, he is taken for the time being 
out of the jurisdiction of the special magistrates. The 

2 G 



338 JAMAICA. 

masters and overseers still exercise direct coercion, 
by putting the apprentices in confinement. The local 
Act grants them this power for the security of the 
person of an offender, till the arrival of the special ma- 
gistrate, but provides, that the imprisonment shall not 
exceed twenty-four hours, and that the special magis- 
trate shall in all cases be informed of the matter of com- 
plaint. The practice, on the part of the owners and 
overseers, of punishing negroes by confinement at their 
own caprice, without any previous or subsequent refer- 
ence to the special magistrate, is general in every part 
of the island. The planters have also perpetuated their 
irresponsible authority, by the exercise of indirect powers 
of coercion, in withholding the slave allowances ; de- 
stroying the goats, poultry, and hogs of the apprentices ; 
pulling down their houses ; taking away the watchmen 
from the provision grounds, and suffering them to be 
destroyed by the trespass of cattle; taking away the 
field cooks ; locking up the sick in the hospitals ; and 
other acts of cruelty and oppression against which the 
apprentices have no protection. The amount of suffer- 
ing and punishment inflicted in these modes is placed 
on no record, reported to no authority, but it is not 
therefore less oppressively and keenly felt. It affords us 
little satisfaction to turn from illegal to legal oppression. 
A limited and imperfect idea of the amount of punish- 
ment inflicted by the special magistrates, may be learned 
from the fact, that during the first two years of their 
administration in the Colony, 60,000 apprentices were 
punished to an extent, in the aggregate, of a quarter of 
a million of lashes, and 50,000 other punishments, by 
the tread-mill, chain-gang, solitary confinement, and 
mulcts of time. We would repeat here the remark, that 
we have neither the power nor the wish to institute a 
comparison between the present and former system. To 
do this would require an unenviable faculty of imagination, 
or a personal acquaintance with slavery, during which the 



JAMAICA. 339 

mind should have become familiar, without becoming 
reconciled with its scenes of violence and wretchedness. 
We are not therefore in a condition to state how much 
the negro has gained by the substitution of the special 
magistrate for the negro driver, and of the discipline of 
the parish workhouse, for the stocks and bilboes of the 
plantation : but we can and do assert, that the new sys- 
tem is efficient for the purposes of perpetuating the en- 
slaving influence of terror, and rendering owners and 
overseers independent of the law of kindness and justice. 
Many of the tread-mills, as we have shown, are instru- 
ments not of punishment but of torture. From their 
construction, they are not capable of their legitimate 
object — the enforcement of a species of severe labour. 
The prisoners are put upon them for one or two short 
spells in the day, for the sole purposes of torture, and to 
diversify the horrors of the dark cell and the chain-gang. 
Another feature of the workhouse discipline is, its de- 
moralising tendency, which is as complete as if it had 
been devised for the purpose. The prisoners of both 
sexes, of all ages, and for all offences, are thrown to- 
gether indiscriminately. At night the males are crowded 
into one sleeping room, and the females into another, 
their security being sometimes insured by shackles. Of 
the temporary inmates of the workhouses, thus associated 
together, besides young persons of both sexes, a fair pro- 
portion are members of churches, individuals of irreproach- 
able conversation, who are sent for offences occasioned by- 
accident, inability, or sickness ; or for those of a fictitious 
and constructive nature, which, if true, fix no stain on 
their moral character, though they are thus visited by 
punishments, implying the deepest moral degradation. 

The forfeiture of time to the estates, is the last mode 
of punishment which our brief summary enables us to 
allude to. It is one which involves as much irritation 
and suffering as all others combined, from the circum- 



340 JAMAICA. 

stance of its reducing the negroes to absolute destitution. 
The law has given the master a direct interest in con- 
victing his negroes of crime, by affixing a penalty, which 
gives him their labour without payment, for a variety of 
offences, some of which do not, in the least degree, 
trench upon his interests. This evil is increased by the 
practice of some of the special magistrates, of ordering 
the apprentices to pay back the time which they lose 
when sent to the workhouse: a practice repugnant to 
justice and utterly illegal. 

Next to the consequences of the excessive activity 
and severity of the coercive powers of the apprenticeship, 
must be considered the far greater amount of suffering 
occasioned by the imperfection of the protective powers. 
We have shown, in our remarks on labour, maintenance, 
condition of the females, &c., that the negroes are un- 
protected in the rights most expressly secured to them 
by the British statute. The local Abolition Act imposes 
no greater penalty than £3 sterling, for the utmost in- 
jury which an apprentice can sustain at the hands of his 
master ; and even the petty pecuniary mulcts, which the 
special magistrates are permitted to inflict on owners and 
overseers, are paid into the Island Treasury. The law 
does not recognise the right of the negro to compensation 
for any personal injury. Defective, however, as the law 
is, its administration is still worse. Personal observation, 
and the testimony of multitudes of the negroes them- 
selves, force the conviction on our minds, that many 
stipendiary magistrates act as if their sole duty was to 
coerce labour, and to maintain, at any cost, the authority 
of the planters. When apprentices are brought before 
them as offenders, they refuse to hear a word in defence 
or explanation; and when the negroes are complainants, 
they award them punishment instead of redress. Where 
this system has been carried to perfection, it has produced 
a state of things, known and described by the colonists. 



JAMAICA. 341 

as " a state of order and tranquillity ; " and its authors 
have been rewarded with substantial marks of public and 
private gratitude. Desolation may be as justly termed 
peace, as this condition of things described by names, 
to which it has no resemblance but in its silence. The 
negroes are silent, because they have learned by ex- 
perience that it is better to make 'any sacrifice, and to 
submit to aggravated oppression, than to appeal to ma- 
gistrates who will crush every complaint by adding to 
thBir yoke and increasing their chastisement. Such 
quiet "is not the complacent quiet of contented enjoy- 
ment, but the portentous quiet of despair." 

We would not throw all the blame, nor even the chief 
blame, of this disastrous working of the apprenticeship 
upon the special magistrates. Their administration of 
the law may be considered a fair transcript of the policy 
of the Government itself; for in their relation to the 
Governor, and their immediate responsibility to his au- 
thority, they more nearly resemble subordinate military 
than civil officers. They have also peculiar difficulties 
to encounter, to which we have had frequent occasion to 
advert. The duties imposed on them by the local Act 
it is impossible for human strength to fulfil. They are 
inadequately remunerated, and are thrown by unavoid- 
able circumstances upon the hospitality of the planters. 
It must cease, therefore, to surprise us, that the greater 
number of them are as completely subservient to the 
colonists as if they had been selected and paid as their 
agents, instead of being the independent and responsible 
officers of the British Government. But of all their dif- 
ficulties, the greatest is the absence of countenance and 
protection on the part of the executive. A magistrate 
was some time since removed by the Governor, osten- 
sibly and avowedly, " for administering the law in the 
spirit of the Imperial Act." This decision has been 
2 G 3 



342 JAMAICA. 

confirmed by the Secretary of State,* and by a neces- 
sary consequence, it is now understood, by every special 
magistrate, that if he so administers the law, he does it 
at the peril of his office. There are yet some, holding 
the special commission, who at least endeavour to do 
their duty ; men of tried worth and strength of character, 
who have displayed rare qualities of the heart and in- 
tellect, under circumstances of unexampled difficulty. 
These will long be held in grateful remembrance by the 
negroes. They are few in number, and we would gladly 
record their names, but from the fear of omitting a single 
individual who may deserve praise for the conscientious 
discharge of his difficult and responsible duties. 

We have now completed our review of the condition 
of the negroes under the apprenticeship ; and with a few 
additional remarks on the Imperial Abolition Act, we 
shall leave the reader to decide how far the terms of 
the compact have been respectively fulfilled by the 
nation and the planters. The clauses relating to com- 
pensation are by far the most ample, the most mJnute, 
and the most accurately worded, of any part of the 
Bill. They have been carried into full effect. Not a 
single slave-owner can complain of being defrauded, 
either in whole or in part, of his share of Compensa- 
tion. Some, indeed, have been defrauded by their fel- 
low-colonists ; f but by the British nation, the sum of 

* The late Governor, the Marquis of Sligo, after he became ac- 
quainted with the oppressions to which the negroes were subjected, 
endeavoured, with great firmness and magnanimity, to protect them in 
the enjoyment of their rights. He experienced far less difficiQty from 
the turbulent violence of the colonists, than from the apathy or concealed 
hostility of the Colonial Office, which subsequently led to his resigna- 
tion of the Government. 

f Soon after the passing of the Bill, reports were actively circulated in 
Jamaica, that the Compensation would never be paid. Some of the 
great alarmists were meantime speculating in estates and compensation 



JAMAICA. 343 

twenty millions sterling has been paid, with accumulated 
interest, and free of all charges. In addition to which, 
the aprenticeship has been upheld by the presence of 
British regiments, and administered by a legion of ma- 
gistrates paid out of the British Treasury. The nation, 
therefore, has fulfilled its part of the compact, and even 
exceeded its stipulations. The negroes, though no parties 
to the agreement, have yet fulfilled all its onerous and 
unjust conditions. But, on the other hand, in every 
essential particular, it has been violated by the planters, 
with the connivance and even the active participation of 
the Executive Government. A remarkable proviso is 
appended to that clause (c. xvi.) of the Imperial Act, 
which enumerates the various objects which it will be 
necessary for the local Legislatures to provide for in de- 
tail, to the following effect : — That it shall not be lawful 
for any subordinate legislative authority, by any act, 
ordinance, or order in Council, to make or establish any 
enactment, regulation, provision, rule, or order, which 
shall be in anywise repugnant or contradictory to the 
Imperial Act, or any part of it ; and such enactments 
are declared to be absolutely null, void, and of no effect. 
This proviso appears to have been intended as an em- 
phatic assurance to the nation, that the conditions of the 
Act should be fully complied with by the colonists. No 
law, however, has been more utterly disregarded than 
this specious proviso. It has been, in itself, absolutely 
null, void, and of no effect. The very minister who in- 
troduced and carried the Imperial Act, who inserted in 
it this proviso, subsequently advised the sanction of the 
Jamaica Abolition Bill as " adequate and satisfactory," 
to entitle the colonists to compensation, and to carry out 
the provisions. of the Imperial Act; a bill confessedly so 

claims. Many of the poorer and more ignorant coloured slave-holders 
sold their claims for less than half their value. 



•344 JAMAICA. 

inadequate, and so little satisfactory, that he himself, in 
the very act of announcing his acceptance of it, called 
upon the Assembly to remedy both its repugnances and 
effects. Each succeeding colonial minister has trodden 
in the same steps, and the concealment and defence of 
successive errors, have led to the establishment, by au- 
thority, of the new system such as we have described it. 
At the present moment, the shelves of the colonial office 
groan under accumulated evidence of the wrongs and 
sufiFerings of the negroes. 

One provision of the Abolition Bill, the freedom of 
the apprentices in 1840, is yet to be fulfilled. With the 
experience of the past before us, what security has the 
nation that this last and principal instalment, in satisfac- 
tion of the twenty millions, will be paid ? There can be 
little doubt that the name of apprenticeship will cease 
at the appointed time, as did that of slavery ; but that its 
substance will not remain, — that coercive, penal, and re- 
strictive laws, exclusively affecting the negroes, will not 
be passed, — and if passed, sanctioned and carried into 
full effect, there is no security, unless the British public 
demand the effectual redress of past grievances and ex- 
isting wrongs; and thus discourage the attempts, which 
will undoubtedly be made to perpetuate, under a new 
form and specious designation, some system of violence 
and unrighteous oppression. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



CONCLUSION. 

There are some exceptions to the description we have 
given in the preceding chapter of the condition and 
treatment of the apprentices. There are some resident 
proprietors, some attorneys and overseers, whose con- 
duct to the negroes under their charge is in striking 
contrast with the general management. Our pages 
bear witness of our anxiety to do justice to those with 
whom we became acquainted, who merit this honour- 
able distinction. Such individuals have uniformly ex- 
perienced the industry and good-will, with which the 
negro renders what becomes, under such a yoke, almost 
a voluntary service, and his readiness to work for rea- 
sonable wages in his own time. The willingness and 
even anxiety of the apprentices to labour for pecuniary 
remuneration, have been fully demonstrated wherever 
they have been fairly put to the test ; and the circum- 
stance is important when viewed in connexion with the 
prospective results of Emancipation, should the change 
in the social system, which has been so inauspiciously 
begun, be carried out to its desirable completion. It 
would be almost idle to speculate on the agricultural 
prospects of the colonies under present circumstances. 
Those prospects are clouded by the apprenticeship, 
which threatens, if not the ruin of the islands, or the 
disorganisation of the community, partial or com.plete 
loss of property, to those who now wantonly outrage the 
rights of their dependent bondsmen. 



346 CONCLUSION. 

Few will be prepared to dispute the advantages 
which the division and combination of labour, under 
the direction of capital and skill, offer, in comparison 
with that simple condition of society, in which each indi- 
vidual supplies all his various wants with his own hands. 
It is therefore desirable that the cultivation of the great 
staples of the colonies should go on with uninterrupted 
success. Such has been the result in Antigua, such 
might have been the result in Jamaica ; and if the ap- 
prenticeship should be brought to an early and peace- 
able termination, such perhaps might be the result still. 
Nothing can exceed the disposition manifested by the 
negro population, to acquire the comforts and even the 
luxuries of civilised life. The world has seen no exam- 
ple of so general and intense a desire for education and 
religious instruction, as has been shown by the appren- 
tices on behalf of themselves and their children, within 
the last few years. Their conduct and their character 
are full of promise for the future ; full of tokens of their 
capacity to become, when free, a well ordered, indus- 
trious, and prosperous community. Their oppressors 
continue to malign them, but the shafts of calumny 
have spent their force. None of those dreams of danger 
and difficulty, which were put forth as pretexts for de- 
laying the Abolition of Slavery, ever had any other basis 
than fraudulent design or guilty fear. From the time 
when it was maintained that the negro was of the lower 
creation, to the present day, when he is recognised as of 
the common brotherhood of man, every pro-slavery 
dogma respecting his character and capabilities has 
been disproved by experience; every pro-slavery pro- 
phecy has been falsified by the event. We are entitled, 
therefore, to doubt the intimate acquaintance of the 
planters with the negro character ; to turn a deaf ear to 
their speculations on the future, and to listen to those 
reasonable considerations, which are deduced from the 



CONCLUSION. 347 

supposition that the apprentices are governed by the 
motives and interests common to human nature, and 
which are in accordance with our experience of the 
past. 

It is undeniably established, that the abolition of 
slavery does not affect the safety of the state, nor the 
well-being of the community, except by insuring the one 
and establishing the other. The question is liable to no 
difficulties but those which are raised by the sordid in- 
terests of individuals. It is a false view of such interests 
alone, which demands the perpetuation of violence and 
fraud. It is already proved that the community, the 
state, the whole body of the people, would be more pros- 
perous under a state of freedom. It is not necessary to 
show, that the present order of things will be so little 
disturbed, as to leave every plantation, cultivated as it is 
at present, yielding an equal amount of produce, an 
equal revenue, to be as unequally distributed. The 
production of excessive wealth, in a slave community, 
does not alleviate misery, nor lighten toil; it serves but 
to heighten the contrast between the splendour of the 
slave-master and the wretchedness of the slave. In the 
British colonies, wealth has been the cause of non- 
residence, the origin of a system of mercenary agency, 
which has aggravated even slavery itself. The continu- 
ance of such vicious parts of a bad system is neither 
probable nor desirable in a state of freedom. A view of 
the evils resulting from the non-residence of landholders 
in Ireland, would afford a very imperfect exemplification 
of the effects of a similar cause in the West Indies. If, 
however, in the heart of the empire, and under the im- 
mediate inspection of Government and the nation, a vast 
amount of suffering and civil disorganisation is found to 
result from absenteeism, it will not be doubted that the 
same consequences, aggravated in a ten-fold degree, exist 
in the colonies, where absenteeism is far more general 



348 CONCLUSION. 

and uninterrupted ; where the Imperial Government 
possesses limited means of information, and consequently 
a very limited control ; and where the legislative, and, for 
the most part, the executive powers of the local admi- 
nistration, are confided to the same mercenary agency, 
which has been created to superintend the private in- 
terests of the absent proprietors. The immense export 
of corn and cattle from Ireland cannot be adduced as a 
proof that her peasantry are living in comfort and 
abundance ; nor do the amount and value of the exports 
from the West Indies denote, under present circum- 
stances, the happy condition of their agricultural popu- 
lation. 

We would not, however, be understood to favour the 
supposition, now so generally exploded, that slavery is 
consistent with the permanent agricultural and com- 
mercial prosperity, either of the aggregate community, 
or of the few individual proprietors. From the date of 
the Abolition of the slave-trade, the population of Ja- 
maica gradually declined, and its yearly amount of agri- 
cultural produce has lessened in a still more rapid ratio. 
In 1807, it exported more than 120,000 hogsheads of 
sugar; in 1834, less than 78,000; and the returns for 
intervening years show, that the falling off is not ac- 
cidental, but the result of permanent causes, gradual, 
vet certain in their operation. Such a state of things 
tended not to prosperity, but to ruin. Were the results, 
therefore, of change more doubtful than they are, and 
were economical interests solely involved in the question, 
it would be sound policy to substitute freedom for slavery. 
Experience has shown, that the negroes will follow those 
employments by which they can realise money, for the 
purchase of articles which cannot be grown or manu- 
factured by their own hands. Under present circum- 
stances, they can earn most money by cultivating ground 
provisions for sale in the markets; yet the immediate 



CONCLUSION. *349 

pecuniary reward, obtained by working for wages, is fre- 
quently preferred to the larger yet deferred profits, which 
would result from the cultivation of their grounds. In a 
state of freedom, it may be anticipated, that the condition 
and resources of an agricultural labourer, working for 
regular wages, will be, as they are in England, superior 
to those of the petty agriculturist, cultivating his little 
plot of land with the labour of his own hands ; and it is 
evident, therefore, that the negroes will generally prefer 
working on the estates. Their strong attachment to the 
place of their birth, to their houses, gardens, to the 
graves of their parents and kindred, exceeding what has 
been recorded of any other people, is another circum- 
stance which favours their continuance as labourers on 
the estates to which they are now respectively attached. 

From such general considerations, w^e are led to infer, 
that the cultivation of the present staples of the island 
will be continued. No planter who has treated his ap- 
prentices kindly, and has habitually employed them for 
wages in their own time, entertains a doubt that he will 
be able to carry on the cultivation of his estate by free 
labour. Such, it may be confidently anticipated, will 
be benefited, rather than injured by Emancipation. 
Those, however, who have pursued a contrary course 
will suffer a deserved retribution. It cannot be antici- 
pated, that every individual labourer should continue in 
his present employment ; and it needs no extraordinary 
foresight to point out the parties who will sustain the loss 
resulting from the diminution of labourers. That dimi- 
nution may be expected to be occasioned chiefly by the 
gradual, voluntary withdrawal of women from regular 
field labour to domestic duties ; a change not more 
essential to the happiness and improvement of the ne- 
groes, than to the future, permanent, advancing pros- 
perity of the whole community. 

To such views as these, is opposed the fear that the 

2 H* 



350* CONCLUSION. 

negroes will be tempted, by the abundance and fertility 
of the waste lands, to become small settlers, and inde- 
pendent cultivators. We do not think such an alarm 
reasonable, and we deprecate any attempt to evade the 
difficulty, by lessening the free agency of the labouring 
population. It would be possible to deprive freedom of 
its substance and value by restrictive laws, devised with 
subtlety, and executed with violence. It would be pos- 
sible to reduce the negroes to a hybrid condition in the 
social scale, which should possess neither the efficiency 
of slavery, nor the energy of freedom : to erect a new 
state of society in the room of the present, possessing, 
like the image of mingled iron and clay, neither tenacity 
nor strength, but wanting every element of durability 
and safety. But the die is cast upon freedom : nothing 
less than unfettered freedom can save the colonies; free- 
dom, protected, not circumscribed, by new laws. In a 
country of mountain fastnesses, the negroes can only be 
prevented from squatting on the crown lands, by being 
suffered to acquire them honestly by purchase. They 
will not occupy them to a greater extent than the de- 
mand for agricultural produce for the island markets 
will enable them to do with pecuniary profit. Mutual 
competition will speedily abate the desire for independ- 
ent cultivation. Throwing open the ports to Haytian 
produce would also tend, by a legitimate mode, to 
attach the people to estate labour. The trade between 
these fine islands is still prohibited, though they are 
almost in sight of each other, and capable of carrying 
on commerce with immense mutual advantage. The 
Haytians would supply yams, plantains, fruits, poultry, 
hogs, goats, cattle, mules, horses, hides, and mahogany, 
in exchange for British manufactures. Such a measure 
would essentially promote both the commercial and agri- 
cultural prosperity of Jamaica; the price of labour would 
be lowered by the abundant supply of provisions; and 



CONCLUSION. *351 

the desire of the negroes for independent cultivation, 
were it even stronger than it is, would give place to the 
disposition to render cheerful and continuous labour on 
the estates, for adequate wages. 

We have heard the sentiment frequently expressed, 
that the negro population of Jamaica is more unintel- 
ligent and degraded than that of Antigua and Barba- 
does. Comparative observation has left a contrary im- 
pression on our minds. There are, undoubtedly, in 
Jamaica, a greater number of benighted negroes, both 
Africans and Creoles ; but there are also a larger pro- 
portion, who evince intelligence, energy, and independ- 
ence of spirit, similar to what are manifested by the 
peasantry of a free country. The ct. use of this differ- 
ence need not be traced further than the several modes 
in which the slaves have been subsisted in the colonies 
named. In Antigua, they were formerly fed by rations; 
in Barbadoes, they are still chiefly supported in the same 
way; but in Jamaica, they are dependent solely on their 
own exertions, in their own time, for the necessaries of 
life. Their children, their aged and infirm relations, 
look up to them for support ; and though, under present 
circumstances, the pressure of such claims frequently 
occasions intense suffering, yet these wholesome cares 
and responsibilities develop an intelligence of mind, a 
firmness, and self-reliance, which are marked charac- 
teristics of many of the apprentices of Jamaica. 

We are unable, within our allotted limits, even to 
attempt to render justice to missionary efforts in Ja- 
maica. Representation cannot picture the happy results 
of those efforts ; description can convey no idea of their 
excellence and magnitude. A few years ago, the ne- 
groes were heathen and benighted; now they are to a 
great extent enlightened and Christian. The Sabbath, 
once desecrated, is now devoted to public prayer and 
thanksgiving, and to the enjoyment of Christian com- 



*352 CONCLUSION. 

munion. A few years ago, education was unknown; 
now it is making progress under many disadvantages, 
and waits but for freedom, to become soon more gene- 
rally diffused than in our own country. The success of 
missionary labours among the servile population has 
been general and striking; much has been done, yet 
more remains to be done. The work requires to be 
deepened, strengthened, and extended; and we earnestly 
commend those benefactors of the human race, the mis- 
sionaries, to the more earnest prayers, to the deeper 
sympathies, and to the yet more liberal support of British 
Christians. 



APPENDIX. 



ANTIGUA. 



SECTION I.— POPULATION. 



Whites. 



Free Coloured 
and blacks 



Slaves. 



I Male 
1 Female 

JMale 
1 Female 

(Male 
1 Female 



1787. 
2590 

1230 

> 37808 



1805, 
3000 



1300 



1817. 



15053\, 
17216 r 



1821. 



1832. 



1140) 
840 j 

1549) 
2346 j 

14531) 
16533J 



3895 



3IO64 



lf.S}^^^^^ 



The above table, compiled from the Antigua Almanac and 
official and parliamentary returns, exhibits a gradual decline in 
the slave population. About three-fifths of the decrease were oc- 
casioned by manumissions ; leaving stiU a fearful waste of life 
to be carried to the account of sugar cultivation by slave labour. 
The excess of females over males is a marked feature in the 
predial population of this and other colonies. The causes of 
the discrepancy are yet unexplained ; as during the slave trade 
the importations were composed of a large excess of males. 
The fact seems to denote the existence of another element of 
social disorganisation peculiar to slavery in sugar colonies. 

As no general census has been taken in 1834, or subse- 
quently, we are in want of the data necessary to exhibit the 
effect of the abolition of slavery upon population ; but it may 
undoubtedly be calculated, that the result of a statistical com- 
parison would be favourable, as the negroes are confessedly 
more careful of their health, and far less frequently require 
medical aid, than during slavery. 

A very intelligent and experienced resident, connected with 
many estates, writes to us on this subject as foUows . — " The 
health and longevity of the labourers are likely to be improved 
and increased ; because they need not submit to be overworked, 

2 H 



350 APPENDIX. 

nor, when recovering from illness, need they return too soon 
to their accustomed daily labour ; both which evils existed 
under the old system, especially on those estates which were 
weak-handed. From these evils, with an insufficiently strength- 
ening diet, sprang that early decrepitude, which often struck 
with surprise persons who knew the age of some who appeared 
old. I expect the population to increase from the foregoing 
causes, combined with the greater care that pregnant women 
will take of themselves ; for it is notorious that, under the old 
system, such women, when exempt from working for their 
owners, would, for themselves and their connexions, stagger to 
town under such loads of wood, grass, fruit, vegetables, &c., 
as scarcely even the rough means then used, to enforce labour, 
could have induced then to carry for their owners, when in a 
state of perfect health." 

SECTION II. 

Commerce and Agriculture. — The gentleman above 
quoted, informs us, " that the amount of imports of dry goods 
(articles for clothing and domestic economy) has increased ; so 
also has the import of rice, flour, mackerel and dried codfish. 
Other fish, as pickled herrings and alewives, are not in the for- 
mer demand; nor is Indian corn, nor in my opinion, from 
which others differ, is corn meal." 

From the preceding, and from much other testimony to the 
same effect, we learn that there has been a general increase of 
import trade, and that the character of it is considerably 
changed ; the coarser articles of food and clothing, formerly 
distributed to the slaves, being displaced by superior qualities 
of grain and fish, and cloths of a finer and costlier fabrication. 

The only articles produced for export in Antigua are sugar, 
rum, molasses, and arrow-root ; of the last of which the quan- 
tity is inconsiderable, and is chiefly grown and prepared by the 
negroes on their own separate account. The yearly average 
export of sugar, for ten years preceding emancipation, was 
thirteen thousand four hundred hogsheads, of about fifteen 
hundred pounds net each. The exports, for the seasons of 
1834-5 and 1835-6, have been about fourteen thousand, and 
ten^thousand hogsheads, respectively. A still greater reduction. 



APPENDIX, 351 

it is to be feared, has taken place in the produce of the season 
of 1836-7. From this circumstance, occasioned by a drought, 
of great severity and of eighteen months' duration,* the planters 
have not derived aU those benefits which might have been 
expected to result from emancipation in a period of agricul- 
tural prosperity. This severe visitation has, however, pressed 
far less heavily upon them than if it h&d occurred before 1834. 
During slavery, a general failure both of the crops of sugar and 
provisions, in successive seasons, occurring, as this has done, 
simultaneously with the scarcity and excessive prices of those 
imported supplies from British America on which the island 
depends, would have given the final blow to the embarrassed 
fortunes of a majority of the planters. This will appear more 
evident from the fact, that supplies of meal and fish, when pur- 
chased at a credit of a few months only, were charged by the 
merchants at an advance of one- third upon the cash price. 

From the statements we have already given of the opinions 
of practical planters, it appears that the cultivation of the 
greater number of estates is carried on at a less expense than 
during slavery. We are not disposed to insist too strongly 
upon the saving which has thus been eflfected ; because several 
of those estates have yielded the largest revenue since 1 834, 
on which there has been a judicious increase of expenditure, 
and also because a statement of comparative outlay, even if it 
could be obtained for the whole island, would afibrd too narrow 
a basis, on which to form a judgment of the respective merits, 
in an economical point of view, oifree and slave labour. The 
following statements, therefore, selected from a number kindly 
put into our hands by several planters and managers, are sub- 
joined rather as illustrations than as proofs, in addition to what 
has already been advanced on this subject. The amounts are 
given in currency. 

* In Antigua the yellow or Bourbon cane is exclusively cultivated. 
In the parish of Vera, and other parts of Jamaica, which are subject to 
uncertainty of climate, this variety has been displaced by the Violet cane, 
which sustains drought better, rattoons for a greater number of years, 
produces much more leaves for fodder and manure, and stalk or magass for 
fuel, and is generally a more vigorous and hardy plant. The sugar made 
from it is little inferior in quantity or quality to that of the Bourbon cai e. 



352 appendix. 

Comparative View of the Expenses on Estate. 

Expenses from \st January, to ^\st December, 1833. 

£ s. d. 

Nourishment &c., for sick 18 14 10 

57 Barrels of Herrings 155 9 6 

40 Puncheons and 92 Barrels of Meal and Flour 771 7 

*139,439 lbs. of Yams, at 7s, per 100 lbs 488 8 

*14,880 lbs. of Sweet Potatoes, at 7s. per do... 52 1 7 

4 Hogsheads of CodjEish 44 7 6 

Wine, &c., for the sick 2 10 

9 Barrels of Pork for Christmas 810 

10 Ditto of Flour ditto 45 

Cotton for Nurses 1 19 

Osnaburghs and Blankets 95 14 \0^ 

Caps 30 

Paid to women for bringing out children 2 12 

To Parish Taxes on 321 Slaves 44 2 9 

To deficiency Tax on ditto 80 

To Medical care of ditto 136 4 

£2049 3 81 



Expenses from \st January, to Zlst December, 1836. 

£ s. d. 

To Clothing for Old People 8 9 lOi 

Blankets for ditto 7 16 

Disbursements for Sick 17 6 

8 Puncheons of Meal, allowance for Old People 

and Stock Keepers 87 19 6 

14 Barrels for Shads for ditto 30 5 9 

Hire of Agricultural Labourers 1250 9 3^ 

Medical care of ditto 70 

Balance in favour of Free Labour 593 6 8^ 



£2049 3 8i 



* These are grown on the plantation, and are charged at the market 

price. 



APPENDIX, 353 

It may be doubted whether the parish and deficiency taxes 
should be introduced as above ; since the revenue derived from 
them is made up from other sources, while the maintenance of 
worn-out slaves, charged on the other side of the account, does 
not properly form a part of the cost of the free system. 



Comparative View of the Expenses ox — =— — Estate. 

ONE YEAR of SLAVERY. 

£ s. d. 

70 Puncheons of Meal 819 

52 Barrels of Herrings 163 16 

4i Ditto of Pork at Christmas 40 10 

5 Ditto Flour ditto 22 10 

910 Yards Osnaburgh 56 17 6 

529 Ditto Blue Napped Clothing 92 11 6 

8 Dozen Kilmarnock Caps 9 12 

50 Yards White Flannel 5 

75 lbs. of Fresh Beef 5 12 6 

Medical care of 108 Slaves, at 9s. per head... 47 12 

Extra labour of Coopers... 98 lO^- 



£1361 2 4i 



ONE YEAR OF FREEDOM. 

£ 

Paid Labourers from 1 st Jan . to 1 Oth Dec .1836. 777 

Computed for the two remaining weeks 29 

Medical attendance on Labourers 28 

Support of Three Annuitants ,.. ... 17 

Clothing for ditto 3 

Balance in favour of Free Labour 503 



5. 


d. 


15 


n 


18 


3 


16 





11 





11 


3 


10 


3' 



£1361 2 4i 



In addition to which, the manager observes, that out of the 
one hundred and eight slaves supported on the estate, twent}^- 
two were the property of another party, who received hire for 

2 H 3 



354 



APPENDIX. 



them ; which is not charged in the above account. The one 
hundred and eight were distributed as follows : — 

1 Ranger. 

2 Foremen. 

10 Tradesmen, (coopers, carpenters, masons, &c.) 

6 Picking grass for horses. 

6 Tending cattle, mules, &c. 
41 Field labourers. 

1 3 Infirm people able to work a little ; and some of whom, 
since emancipation, are employed. 

6 House servants. 

8 Superannuated. 
15 Infants. 

108 

Our informant adds : — " Of the forty-one field labourers, if 
the estate mustered one half in the field it was well- — pregnant 
women, nursing mothers, runaway, lazy, sick, and attendants 
on lying-in women, fully taking the other half, or more. 

"The estate makes equally as good crops with free labour, 
and with less trouble to myself. The work is also much more 
forward, although we have had a great deal of building. 
The cultivation of provisions is decreased, that of canes in- 
creased. I have been prevented, by the building, from putting 
another piece of land in canes. 

" What labourers we now have are all eifective, and we do all 
that we can with the plough, having very little land that the 
plough cannot worko 

" During slavery we had three coopers, who never did supply 
the estate with hogsheads. We used to hire others on the 
Saturdays, to make the mat/owr shillings each. We purchased 
all our puncheons for molasses and rum ready made. We have 
now two coopers who make all the hogsheads and puncheons 
we want, at two shillings each." 

SECTION III. 
Religion, Morals, and Education. — The Establishment 
has six parish churches, and five chapels of ease ; which are 



APPENDIX. 355 

attended habitually by about three thousand five hundred per- 
sons, of whom eight hundred are communicants. 

The Wesleyan society has " seven principal stations ; be- 
sides a great number of preaching places on the estates." It 
has upwards of three thousand members. 

The United Brethren have a chajpel at each of their five 
stations ; which collectively are capable of accommodating two 
thousand seven hundred persons. The number of their mem- 
bers is, of adults about ten thousand three hundred, and of chil- 
dren about three thousand five hundred ; the number of com- 
municants about five thousand one hundred. They have nine 
missionaries ; so that, besides supplying their regular congre- 
gations on the Sabbath, several ministers are at liberty to preach 
the Gospel at the more distant estates. The insufficient accom- 
modation afi'orded at their stations for so large a body of 
members tends to create among them habits of irregular at- 
tendance. This evil is partially counteracted by the pastoral 
oversight of the ministers, exercised in the manner already 
described. 

We cannot express our own sentiments respecting the effect 
of emancipation upon the rehgious state of the people better 
than in the words of our excellent friend, J. Momsh, one of 
the Moravian missionaries. 

He says in a letter to us : — " My opinion regarding the 
morals of the negroes since emancipation, compared with the 
two previous years, is, that there is as great an improvement 
as could reasonably be expected in so short a time, from a 
people emerged from a state so degrading ; there is a greater 
desire to be married than formerly ; and the husband and wife 
more generally reside together, which in many instances they 
could not do in slavery. 

" There is a more general attendance on the means of grace 
than during slavery ; and there is a manifest improvement in 
the morals of children." 

There are several societies in the island, to promote bene- 
volent and religious objects. Of those more immediately con- 
nected with the negroes, the Friendly Societies are the most 
important. There is one in connexion with most of the 
Wesleyan and Moravian congregations, and with several of 



356 



APPENDIX. 



those in the EstabHshment. Their beneficial results have 
already been adverted to. 

Temperance Societies have also been formed in the town of 
St. John's, and on several estates, by the Wesleyan mission- 
aries ; and have been very useful. Intemperance is not, how- 
ever, the same overwhelming evil in this island as in the 
United Kingdom. There are few shops for the retail sale of 
spirits, the spirit dealer's licence being in the town, of St. 
John's as high as £160 currency per annum, and £100 
currency in any other part of the island. 

Pawnbrokers' shops are unknown in Antigua. 

The ministers of the Established Church have under their 
care, 

1 Day school in St. John's, attended by 200 boys, 
1 ditto in ditto 150 girls, 

1 ditto in English Harbour, 150 children; 

and fifteen Infant Schools, situated on estates, or at the difi'er- 
ent parsonages, attended by about eleven hundred children. 

Sunday-schools are kept in all the churches and chapels ; 
and the adults have the privilege of attending school at noon 
and in the evening, on the estates where infant schools are 
held. 

The above schools are chiefly supported by funds derived 
from the "Negro Conversion Society," and the "Ladies' 
Negro Education Society;" and from the Government, 
through the Bishop of the diocese. 

The United Brethren have schools at each of their five 
settlements, attended by about six hundred day scholars, and 
seven hundred Sunday scholars. 

They are in great need of pecuniary means to enable them 
to enlarge their present school-houses, and to erect new ones ; 
as well as to pay the salaries of teachers. Five coloured 
persons are at present employed by them in that capacity ; but 
much of the labour of instruction falls upon the missionaries 
themselves. With one or two exceptions, their schools are 
not in the same efficient state as those of the Established 
Church and Wesleyan Society. 

The state of the Wesleyan schools will appear from the 
following remarks, kindly drawn up by Charles Thwaites for 



APPENDIX. 357 

our use. Most of his observations are applicable to the schools 
of the island generally. 

" The schools in connexion with the Wesley an stations are 
as follow; — 

Sunday Schools, 7 in number, attended by 1800 children. 
Day ditto 18 „ „ 1365 

Night ditto 24 „ ,; 500 

" The total number under instruction is about two thousand 
five hundred ; of whom about two thousand two hundred are 
children of slaves, liberated on the 1st of August, 1834. 

" No regular system of instruction is pursued in the Sunday 
and night schools. The infant school system is imperfectly 
taught in the day schools. 

" The children's capacities to learn are equalto those of any 
other class of people. They excel in reading, and the girls in 
needlework. They are deficient in writing and arithmetic. 

" Adult schools have repeatedly been established ; but, for 
want of regularity in the attendance of the scholars, have been 
given up. There are notwithstanding many adults learning 
to read in their spare time ; some of whom are taught by their 
own children. 

" The funds have never been sufficient to hire teachers of 
competent ability. Of those we have, (twenty-three in num- 
ber,) three are very capable; the rest are liberated slaves. 
Some of them receive four dollars per month, others three and 
a half, and some three dollars. This pay is much too small ; 
and some of them suff'er from pecuniary difficulties. They are 
pious and indefatigable in their duty, and love their work, 
which makes them engage in it at so reduced a sum. Many 
of them have also greatly improved themselves since they have 
been employed. 

" In most of the schools, each child is required to pay three 
farthings sterling per week; and those taught writing and 
needlework three halfpence per week. 

" The schools have been supported chiefly by the * Negro 
Education Society ;' who have given an annual grant of £50, 
and sometimes £60, besides paying the rent of the Church 
Mission Society's premises in Willoughby Bay, for the use of 



858 APPENDIX. 

the superintendent and Willougliby Bay school. The Ladies' 
Antislavery Societies at Chelmsford, Birmingham, Westbrom- 
%vich, Clapham, and Liverpool, have also given considerable 
assistance in money and articles of reward. The regular funds 
are, notwithstanding, very inadequate ; and a continual reliance 
on God is necessaiy, not only for the regular supply that it 
may be kept up, but also for the deficiencies ; and it is a mat- 
ter of gratitude that we can say, ' Hitherto He has helped us.' 

" Besides the schools under the superintendence of the three 
religious bodies, there are several on particiilar estates, sup- 
ported by the proprietors or managers. 

" The want of a normal or model school, is felt by all in the 
island who take an interest in the subject of education. The 
rector of St. John's, previously to his recent visit to England, 
raised an amount by subscription sufficient to bring out a 
master and mistress to establish such a school for the training 
of teachers. On his arrival in London, he learned that the 
trustees of the Mico institution were about to appoint an 
agent to carry that object into effect. Their agent subse- 
quently sailed ; but his destination was suddenly changed from 
Antigua to Barbadoes, to the great disappointment of the 
friends of education in the former island." 

SECTION IV. 

Local Government. — The constitution of the chartered 
colonies is so generally known, that it would be needless to 
refer to it but for its important bearing, at the present crisis, 
upon the welfare of the enfranchised negroes. The following 
remarks on Antigua will also illustrate the state of things in 
the other colonies. 

The legislative and administrative departments of the local 
government, comprising about one hundred and sixty import- 
ant offices of trust, are fiUed by the Governor and forty-eight 
colonists ; of whom thirty- six are landed proprietors, five en- 
gaged in mercantile pursuits, and the remaining seven mem- 
bei's of the medical and legal professions. 

The Council is composed of ten members appointed by the 
Governor. All but one are proprietors. It possesses the 
same place in the legislature as the House of Lords. 



APPENDIX. 359 

The House of Assembly consists of twenty-five members, of 
whom all but three are proprietors ; they are chosen by twelve 
divisions of the island, of which ten send two members each ; 
one, one member ; and the town of St. John's four. 

The Assembly is elected for seven years, and meets for the 
despatch of business once a month, or oftener, by adjourn- 
ments. It is thus always in session ; a circumstance which 
invests it with a power of imprisonment for an almost inde- 
finite period ; a power which has, on more than one occasion 
within memory, been exercised in the most arbitrary manner. 

The elective franchise, in the absence of any specific law, 
was formerly regulated by an Act, which defines the extent of 
freehold necessary to qualify an individual for the exercise of 
other political privileges, to be the possession often acres of land, 
or a house of the yearly value of £20 currency. Under this 
Act, the number of electors in the country divisions does not, 
in many instances, exceed two or three. By the nominal con- 
cession to the coloured classes of their political rights, the 
electors of St. John's were increased to upwards of two hun- 
dred. The House, some time afterwards, by a simple resolution, 
defined the qualification for the exercise of the franchise to be 
the possession of a freehold of ten acres of land, or a tenement 
of the yearly value of £50 currency, or of the dimensions of 
thirty by fifteen feet ; the latter singular standard having ap- 
parently been adopted for the purpose of excluding a large 
class of substantial dwellings, and of including coach-houses, 
and other similar buildings, which might be used by the wealthy 
to confer fictitious qualifications on their dependents. 

After the election, following the adoption of this resolution, 
two of the four liberal members, chosen by the metropolis, 
were unseated by a committee of the whole House, on the pe- 
tition of their opponents ; the committee not only acting on 
the resolution, but carrying it out still further by the most 
strained and partial interpretations. The aggrieved electors 
adopted at a pubhc meeting a series of resolutions strongly 
condemning these arbitrary proceedings. They likewise ad- 
dressed a petition to the three branches of the local govern- 
ment, setting forth, in forcible and perspicuous terms, the 
injurious consequences of the unconstitutional conduct of the 



360 APPENDIX. 

Assembly. Finally, they made their appeal to the Home 
Government. 

The reply of Lord Glenelg to their memorial arrived during 
our stay in the Colony, and was to the following effect : — 

" The redress of the grievances of which the petitioners com- 
plain, is beyond the power of his Majesty's executive govern- 
ment ; and the petitioners are also advised to seek protection 
from encroachment ' in the peaceful and temperate exercise of 
the right of petition, and of free pubhc discussion.' " 

The Colonial Secretary by this counsel displays a remarkable 
ignorance of the state of society in the smaller colonies. By 
his decision he charters the unconstitutional assumption on the 
part of the Assembly of a power which belongs jointly to the 
three estates ; he sanctions an invasion of the Royal prero- 
gative ; and contributes to continue the Assembly what it has 
long virtually been — a self-elected body. 

Such is the legislature of the Colony. The administration 
of the laws possesses counterpart features. 

The Chief and Puisne Justices of the Court of Common 
Pleas are planters, without any legal education. They are 
Hable to be concerned in civil suits in their own persons, or in 
those of their creditors and debtors. On one or two occasions 
an embarrassed chief justice has been the defendant in actions 
for debt in this court. 

The Court of Chanceiy consists of the Governor and the 
members of Council ; many of whom being planters are sus- 
pected, justly or otherwise, of being under the influence of a 
certain wealthy merchant and mortgagee resident in the 
island. 

These two Courts do not possess the confidence of all classes 
in the Colony. 

The Court of King's Bench is composed of the Justices of 
the Peace, who are thirty-three in number, and are appointed 
by the Governor with the approbation of the Council. Twenty 
of them, however, are magistrates ex officio, viz., all the mem- 
bers of Council, Judges in the Court of Exchequer and Common 
Pleas, the Speaker and Crown Law Officers. Three are per- 
sons of colour, all of whom owe their appointment to Sir Evan 
MacGregor, the late Governor. 



APPENDIX. 361 

The justices also dispose of aU petty offences at the Police 
Courts, and occasionally at their own houses. At St. John's, 
the offences of disorderly persons in the town population form 
the bulk of these minor cases. At the country stations of Par- 
ham and English Harbour, nine-tenths of the cases decided, 
come under certain Acts, which have been passed since the 
Abolition of Slavery, to enforce the 'observance, on the part of 
masters and servants, of their respective duties ; as the Con- 
tract Act, Malicious Injuries to Property Act, General Hiring 
Act, &c., &c. 

The administration of these important Acts has strong fea- 
tures of resemblance to that of the English Game Law^s, a few 
years since, by certain owners of game preserves. 

The complaints against employers are very few, and they are 
generally dismissed by the magistrates. Complaints against 
the labourers are numerous : they are rarely dismissed, and are 
punished with a severity disproportionate to the offences. 
The penalties usually imposed are, however, far more lenient, 
when the magistrates are high-minded and wealthy proprietors, 
than when the presiding justice is an individual not imme- 
diately connected with planting, but dependent on the 
planters for professional income. We are happy to add, that 
there has been a considerable decrease of cases of this kind 
since the commencement of the new system ; but it is doubtful 
whether these Police Courts will ever be equitable and efficient 
until an independent magistracy is appointed. There are in- 
dividuals in the Colony, who for moderate stipends would 
discharge the duties of police magistrates with vigour and 
impartiahty. 

From the preceding statement, it is evident that the Local 
Government of Antigua is an oligarchy, composed of an ex- 
clusive class, whose private and personal interests are inse- 
parably intertwined with their public duty. Their legislation 
is essentially of a vicious character ; and their administration 
of the laws still more partial and objectionable. Much of this 
evil tendency of the constitution might undoubtedly be coun- 
teracted by the powerful control of the Home Government ; 
but, unhappily, that control has rarely been exercised honestly 
and firmly. The change, in our Colonial system has been 

2 I 



362 APPENDIX. 

forced by a generous people upon an unwilling Government ; 
which, while adopting in profession a humane and hberal 
pohcy, continues to retain in its service a host of function- 
aries, who aid in obsti'ucting all measures of reform. This 
grand defect runs through the whole series of Colonial ap- 
pointments, but is most conspicuous in the selection of 
Governors ; to whose want of capacity, indifference, or virtual 
coahtion vrith the planters, the difficulties which the Colonial 
Office experiences in carrying out its pohcy, are chiefly to be 
attributed. 

An old resident in Antigua thus expresses himself on this 
subject: — 

" It has been the unhappy lot of this island to be ruled, for 
the last thirty-six years, by such representatives of the King as 
were imbued with high Tory notions of government, and, at 
the same time, addicted to company and pleasure. The only 
exceptions to this remark thi-oughout that period, haA^e been 
Mr. Hugh Elliot and Sii- Evan MacGregor. The consequences 
of these appointments have been at all times oppressively felt 
by the inhabitants of the island ; and, ever since measures 
began to be in progi'ess for the ' Abohtion of Slaven*, they have 
occasioned not a little embarrassment to the Government itself.' '" 

The same general remark, with similar exceptions, apphes to 
all the colonies. 

SECTION V. 

Laws of Antigua. — ^The Act for the Abohtion of Slaveiy 
swept into obhvion an entii'e series of those disgraceful laws 
which disfigure the Statute Book of ever\' slave-holding com- 
munity. The framing of new enactments, adapted to the 
changed circumstances of the Colony, was commenced with 
great industry by the Colonial Parhament. New laws were fast 
multiphed ; of which some appear to have been intended to 
obriate evils and inconveniences, the remedy for which is in the 
province oitime, and not of legislation. But let it be obsen-ed, 
that this legislative activity was exercised in a particular direc- 
tion ; and, consequently, several necessaiy reforms remain yet 
n abeyance. Among these are, the legal recognition of mar- 
riages performed by Dissenting ^Ministers ; an entire change of 



APPENDIX. 363 

the judicial system ; and a revision of the laws affecting pro- 
perty. These several and most necessary changes have been 
pressed upon the attention of the Colonial Legislature by Lord 
Glenelg ; and it is probable, that Acts will ere long be passed 
in conformity with his views. We would only now emphatically 
observe, that all interested in the welfare of the negro popula- 
tion should immediately use their influence to obtain a Mar- 
riage Act, having a retrospective as well as prospective effect. 

The Acts which have been passed, to meet the immediate 
exigencies created by the entire change in the social and po- 
litical condition of the colony, demand a very serious examina- 
tion ; as they are so many precedents which will affect here- 
after the rights and interests of the enfranchised population 
of the other islands. We would make, on these important 
laws, the general remark, that they contain many clauses which 
press with undue severity on the working classes, and that the 
penalties they impose are usually excessive ; evils w^hich are not 
mitigated by the manner in which they are interpreted and ad- 
ministered. We will select, for more particular attention, and 
as an illustration of the one-sided character of Colonial Legis- 
lation, an Act which passed immediately before our arrival in 
the Colony ; and which received the Royal sanction by an 
Order in Council, dated April 26, 1837. It is entitled, ''An 
Act for preventing a clandestine deportation of labourers, arti- 
ficers, handicraftsmen, and domestic servants, from this Island, 
and for establishing regulations concerning their departure from 
the same." 

The preamble sets forth the evil practice of designing per- 
sons coming to Antigua, and, by delusive promises of great 
gain, inducing the labourers to enter into indentures or con- 
tracts to serve in other colonies ; and that it is much to be 
apprehended that the labourers become victims to such mer- 
cenary speculations ; and that they are frequently thus induced 
to emigrate when in debt or under contract in the island, or 
when they have infirm relatives, wives, and childi'en, depending 
on them ; and, finally, that such practices are detrimental to the 
interests and well-being of this island, as well as of the labourers 
themselves. 

The first clause enacts that everv labourer, wishing to emi- 



364 APPENDIX. 

grate, shall, before leaving his parish, state his intention to one 
of the nearest justices of the peace, who, joining himself with 
another justice, shall inquire whether the person has any grand- 
father or grandmother, father or mother, wife, or child under 
fourteen years of age, legitimate or illegitimate, dependent upon 
him for support, and who may become destitute on his depar- 
ture. If the justices find that the said labourer has no such 
kindred or claims upon him, and that he is not bound by any 
existing contract for service, they shall give him a certificate 
to that efi"ect, which shall authorise the Island Secretary to set 
up his name in the Secretary's Ofiice, as a person about to 
leave the Island. If, however, they find that the labourer has 
any such kindred, or claims upon him, and that he refuses to 
make satisfactory provision for their support during his ab- 
sence, they shall refuse their certificate, and shall apprise the 
Island Secretary of the name of the person, and of the obstacles 
existing to his departure. 

The third clause gives the labourer an appeal to the Gover- 
nor and Council ; who shall have power to overrule any 
intentional, improper, or unnecessary obstruction on the part 
of the justices. 

The fourth imposes a penalty of one hundred pounds, and 
six months imprisonment, on any master of a ship, or other 
individual, endeavouring to induce any labourer to emigrate 
without complying with the provisions of the law. 

The sixth requires the Island Secretary, after receiving the 
certificate of the justices, to pubhsh weekly, for thirty days, in 
one of the newspapers, the name of any labourer intending to 
emigrate, together with the name of his last employer and last 
place of residence. 

This Act is intended to obviate a real and pressing evil ; but 
the remedy here proposed is far w^orse than the disease. A 
different measure, of a simple and unobjectionable nature, is 
completely within the power of the Colonial Department ; be- 
cause Demerara and Trinidad, where alone labour is sufficiently 
dear to afibrd a premium on the speculations of the above- 
mentioned " designing persons," are both Crown Colonies- 

The Editor of the Antigua Herald and Gazette, in announc- 
ing that this law has received the Royal sanction, observes, 



APPENDIX. S65 

-' that it is reported to be considered veri/ efficacious, and to be 
viewed by the country gentlemen as an Act likely to prove 
highly beneficial to the Colony." It appears to us, on the con- 
trary, that the tendency of it is to convert the free agricultural 
peasantry of Antigua into adscripti glehoe. The landed pro- 
prietors have already combined, as individuals, to enforce a low 
tarifi" of wages. By this Act they combine, as legislators, to 
exclude foreign competition, by placing insuperable obstacles in 
the way of their labourers carrying their industry to the best 
market. That a peasant desirous of emigrating should be able 
to make, for the numerous relations specified in the Act, a pro- 
vision satisfactory to one of the nearest justices of the peace, 
viz., his own employer, or one of his own employer's friends, 
is very unlikely. The duty of a labourer to support his parents 
and grand-parents, has never, we believe, before been enforced 
by legal penalties. He may be so circumstanced as scarcely to 
be able to earn necessary food and clothing for his wife and 
children ; in which case, emigration, under a reasonable pros- 
pect of improving his condition, may become his interest and 
duty, even though he should leave behind him other near re- 
lations in a state of destitution. This law, however, declares, 
that in such a case he shall remain, and witness their misery 
without being able to alleviate it. 

The preamble speaks of the well-being of the island, as dis- 
tinguished from that of the labourers, and this spirit is carried 
out through all its provisions, which press exclusively on the 
labouring classes, creating a permanent legal distinction and 
barrier between them and the other classes of society. It is 
impossible to be too jealous of laws like these — we cannot for- 
get the condition, a fev/ years since, of the Hottentots at the 
Cape ; who, nominally free, were reduced by a single injurious 
ordinance to a state of villanage, which left them at the mercy 
of a ruthless taskmaster, without giving them any protection 
even in his self-interest — a state which exposed them to the 
exactions of slavery without its slender indulgences, to its worst 
horrors, without any of its mitigations. 

Upon our Colonial Government has devolved the superin- 
tendence of the most interesting pohtical experiment recorded 
in the history of our country, and what responsibihty can be 

2i 3 



366 APPENDIX. 

more sacred, than that of preventing the young liberties of a 
suddenly emancipated people from degenerating into licence, 
and of protecting them on the other hand from the encroach- 
ments of superior power and intelligence ? We would ask, 
whether Government has discharged its high duties worthily, 
and in such a way as to secure that complete emancipation for 
which the English people have so earnestly contended, and for 
which they have made so costly a sacrifice ? Do not the laws, 
passed in this and other colonies since the Imperial Act for 
the Abohtion of Slavery, and sanctioned by Royal Orders in 
Council, bear witness, that the Colonial Department is not, at 
the present moment, filled with men to w^hom the sacred in- 
terests of negro liberty can be safely intrusted, without the 
exercise of increased vigilance on the part of the public ? There 
is nothing in the situation of the colonies, or in the character 
of their population, to warrant even temporary deviations from 
a sound, legitimate, and equal legislation. The great principles 
of political economy are as applicable to them, at the present 
crisis, as they are to the mother country ; and any wide de- 
parture from those principles, will not only inflict much pre- 
sent evil, but create serious difficulties for the future. 

SECTION VI. 

The Abolition Act. — The debates of the Assembly and 
Council, as reported in the Island newspapers during the ses- 
sions of 1833, 4, and 5, cannot be said to exhibit the entire body 
of Antigua legislators in the character of high-minded and 
disinterested philanthropists. The passing of the Emancipa- 
tion Act was barely secured, by the unwearied efforts of a small, 
but benevolent and enlightened majority ; to whom also is 
owing the defeat of subsequent measures, which would have 
virtually undone all that the Bill professed to effect. The first 
Act was rejected by the Home Government, in consequence of 
its containing a clause repealing the four and a half per cent 
duties A second was introduced in a remodelled form, and 
ultimately carried by a casting vote. The Governor, Sir Evan 
MacGregor, took the warmest interest in the measure, and 
employed all his legitimate influence to effect its passing. He 
was undoubtedly the means, under Providence, of determining 



APPENDIX. 367 

the nicely balanced scales of liberty and apprenticeship in favour 
of the former. 

SECTION VII. 

The Four and a half per cent. Duties.— It is to be re- 
gretted that the Home Government did not acknowledge the 
full surrender, on the part of the Antigua Colonists, to the 
wishes of the parent country, by the desired cession of the 4^ 
per cent, duties ; a tax which cannot in any point of view be 
defended, and which is objectionable in its origin, mode of col- 
lection, and application. It is an impost jfrom which Jamaica, 
Demerara, and others of the more fertile colonies, are exempt ; 
and which presses unequally upon the older and comparatively 
exhausted islands. It originated in Barbadoes. That island, 
having been first granted to the Earl of Carlisle, was, during 
the abeyance of his patent in the parliamentary war, colonised 
by numerous bodies of refugees. At the Restoration, the re- 
spective claims of the actual possessors of the soil, and of the 
Earl of Carlisle, were submitted to the arbitration of King 
Charles II., who confirmed the titles of the occupants, on con- 
dition of their paying a duty in kind, of four and a half per 
cent, on all exports, first to the creditors of Lord Carhsle for a 
series of years, and afterwards to the Crown. Every means 
was industriously employed to extend this precedent to the 
other colonies. Antigua fell under the yoke in the following 
manner : — In 1666, the island was surprised by a petty French 
force from Guadaloupe, which retained possession of it till the 
following year, when it was recaptured by the British. The 
4^ per cent, duty was made the condition of the colonists re- 
ceiving new grants of their estates, which they had forfeited b3/ 
taking the oath of allegiance to the French monarch. This 
duty became a fund, out of which successive sovereigns grante(^ 
pensions to their favourites, until it was recently placed, with 
the other Crown revenues, under the control of ParUament. 
The episcopal estabhshment for the West Indies is charged 
upon it, and the new judicial system is proposed to be provided 
for out of the same fund. This tax operates as a protecting 
duty in favour of the newest and most fertile soils ; and it is, 
with manifest injustice, levied upon a few of the colonies to 



368 APPENDIXo 

defray charges incident to the whole. It ought to be at least 
exchanged for a civil list, raised at the discretion of the local 
legislature, and appropriated to defray the charges of Govern- 
ment. Among other reasons for giving the claim of Antigua 
for the abolition of these duties a favourable consideration, it 
ought not to be forgotten, that the rejection of the apprentice- 
ship has saved the mother country about twelve thousand 
pounds sterling in the salaries of stipendiary magistrates. 



SECTION VIII. 

Waste Lands. — There are several thousand acres, of which 
the title to possession appears to be indisputably vested in the 
Crown, by the re-conquest of this island. The statute book 
contains many acts of appropriation of land, by the three es- 
tates jointly; a fact which can scarcely be held to impair the 
original, sole right of the Crown, as Colonial Bills are enacted 
in the form of petition. The sale of these lands, from time to 
time, in small parcels, would probably have a more powerful 
tendency, than any other measure in the power of the Home 
Government, to elevate the emancipated population in character 
and condition. The monopoly of land, which at present exists 
in the hands of large proprietors, is injurious to every interest 
in the land. 



APPENDIX. 369 



DOMINICA. 



SECTION I. 

A Table, showing the Increase and Decrease of Slaves 
ON three Estates of Resident Proprietors, and on 
three others of Non-Resident Proprietors, from 
1817 TO 1834. 

N, B. The increase, from other causes than births, means, by 
purchase, inheritance, SfC. ; and the decrease from other causes 
than deaths, means, by sale, bequests^ 8(C. 

proprietors — resident. 
Morne Rouge Estate, St. Mark^s, producing Sugar and Coffee. 

1817 No. of slaves 69 

1817 Increase by births 42 

Decrease by deaths 21 

J to Difference — 21 

J Increase from other causes 27 

Ll834 Decrease ditto 9 

Difference — 7 

1834 No. of slaves 97 

Bete Rouge and CouUbri, St. Mark's, producing Coffee. 

1817 No. of slaves 64 

J, 1817 Increase by births 36 

I Decrease by deaths 21 

<j to Difference , — 15 

I Increase from other causes 16 

M 834 Decrease ditto ^ 9 

Difference 7 

1834 No. of slaves 86 



. 370 APPENDIX. 

Pointe Mdlatre Estate, St. Patrick's, producing Sugar. 

1817 No. of slaves. 175 

Increase by births 89 

rl817 Decrease by deaths 53 

j Difference — 36 

H to 

I 211 

1834 Increase from other causes 1 

Decrease ditto 6 

Difference — 5 

1834 No. of slaves 206 

PROPRIETORS NON-RESIDENT. 

Good-will Estate, St. George's, producing Sugar. 
1817 No. of slaves 200 

Increase from other causes 78 

1817 Decrease ditto 19 

Add difference — 59 

H to 259 

Decrease by deaths 142! 

^ 1834 Increase by births 63* 

Deduct difference 79 



1834 No. of slaves 180 

Canejield Estate, St. Paul's, producing Sugar. 
1817 No. of slaves 163 

Increase from other causes 61 

f 1817 Decrease ditto 9 

I Add difference — 52 

J to 

I 215 

Decrease by deaths 145! 

' 1834 Increase by births 41* 

^ Deduct difference 104 

1834 No. of slaves Ill 



APPENDIX. 371 

Castle Bruce Estate, St. David's, producing Sugar. 

1817 No. of slaves 281 

Increase from other causes 57 

j 1817 Decrease ditto 3 

( Add difference — 54 

H to ■ - 

I 335 

Decrease by deaths 224! 

1834 Increase by births 51* 

Deduct difference 173 

1834 No. of slaves 162 



SECTION II. 

Local Government. — The administration of the laws is of 
the same character as in Antigua, and in the same urgent need 
of reform. 

The strong hold of abuses in the Local Government, is in 
those departments, both legislative and executive, which are 
filled by the appointment of the Colonial Office. The repre- 
sentative branch is not hberal, but in future elections it may 
be expected to become so, as the coloured class are numerous 
and influential, and the members whom they return have been 
hitherto the consistent supporters of measures of improve- 
ment. Nothing can be said in praise of the Legislative Coun- 
cil, which is nominated by the Crown ; and it would be difficult 
to reprobate, too strongly, the appointment or retention, in the 
most responsible offices, of men who perpetuate the worst co- 
lonial abuses. The present Attorney- General is a conspicuous 
example of the kind of persons who are distinguished by the 
confidence of the Home Government. It will be remembered, 
by some of our readers, that a statement was made public in En- 
gland, in the early part of 1835, that two female apprenticed 
labourers had been punished by flogging in the market place of 

* The reader will not fail to observe the fewness of the births, as well 
as the fearful number of deaths, on these estates. 



372 APPENDIX. 

Roseau ; and that a free coloured man, convicted of an assault, 
had been worked in the chain gang amongst felons, and left to 
depend, during a long imprisonment, upon the charity of his 
fellow-prisoners for food. This report excited public indigna- 
tion in England, which caused the House of Assembly to in- 
vestigate the matter in a Committee of the whole House, in the 
hope, doubtless, of falsifying or explaining away the state- 
ments which had been made. From their printed report we 
extract the following : — " The result of this investigation, in 
respect to those points to which the inquiry was directed, estab- 
lishes, in the opinion of the Committee, the following facts : 
— First, that two female apprenticed labourers, named Don- 
gouse and Mary Clarke, were severally indicted, &c., and were 
sentenced by the Court to receive, the former, thirty-nine, and 
the latter, thirty stripes in the public market-place ; that the 
punishment was inflicted on them, without any improper expo- 
sure of their persons, and without any further exposure than 
was necessary to carry the sentences into execution. 

" The Committee have not thought it incumbent on them to 
enter into any examination of the legality of the sentences pro- 
nounced ; they have thought it sufficient, that those sentences 
proceeded from the highest Criminal Court, and were sanc- 
tioned by the legal opinion of the j^r^^ law officer of the Crown in 
this Colony." The examination of the witnesses is appended 
to this report. The following are two of the questions pro- 
posed to the Attorney- General, and his repHes. 

" Were you called upon by the Court to give your opinion 
as to the legality of awarding punishment by whipping, in the 
cases of Dongouse and Mary Clarke ?" — ** I do not recollect 
that I was called upon to give my opinion, but I did give my 
opinion, that the punishment of females by whipping was 
legal. — I pointed out to the Court that that mode of punishment 
was still in their power, and that the cases of the two parties 
warranted its exercise. 

" Upon what law do you ground your opinion that women 
may be flogged in this colony for certain offences ? — Upon 
the law of England." 

The Provost Marshal was asked, 

" When were the sentences put in execution ? and on what 



APPENDIX. 373 

day ? " " In the market place, on the 7th of February, between 
twelve and one o'clock." 

" Was it on the market day, and was the market full of 
people, men and women?" "It was on a market day, and 
there were a great many people, men and women, as is usual 
on those days." 

The Attorney General, who thus deliberately avows, that 
these female apprentices were publicly flogged, on his unsoli- 
cited recommendation to the Court, is still, through his own 
talents, and the favour of the government, the most influential 
person in the Colony. 

From the investigation into the other case of the fi*ee man 
of colour, it appears that it is not the custom in Dominica for 
free criminals to receive any food ; and that this prisoner was 
actually dependent on casual charity, and on the pity of the 
apprentices in the chain gang. One of the to\Mi wardens, 
on being asked, in reference to this case, "Why do you con- 
sider the punishment by the chain gang not a severe punish- 
ment ?" replies, " In the first instance, I consider the chain is 
put about them as a. badge of shame, to which, in my opinion, 
the generality of them are perfect strangers," &c. He adds, 
" I have latterly observed, that the chain is so folded up, or 
covered, that you cannot discern whether it is a chain or not !" 
This is a striking illustration of the unconscious simplicity with 
which a thorough-paced advocate of colonial oppressions will 
sometimes supply facts in refutation of his opinions. It would, 
indeed, not be surprising if the sense of shame were obhterated 
by slavery ; but it is a fact, that many of the females manifest 
as deep a feeling of the degradations to which they are sub- 
jected, as could be shown, under the same circumstances, by 
the wives and daughters of more happy England. 



SECTION III. 
The Late Governor. — We have had occasion, in the pre- 
ceding pages, to speak in terms of praise of Sir Evan Mac- 
Gregor, and it is our grateful task to record here, that those 
in Dominica interested in the welfare of the apprentices attri- 
bute the accomphshment of some good, and the prevention of 
much mischief, to his brief residence among them as Governor. 

2 K 



374 



APPENDIX. 



In his farewell address to the Legislatm-e, on his departure to 
assume the government of the Windward Islands, he recom- 
mended the aboHtion of the apprenticeship in 1838. We 
would gladly wi'ite nothing but eulog}^ of the author of so be- 
nevolent a proposition, but a sense of what is due to impar- 
tiality compels us to notice two acts which disfigm*e his ad- 
ministration. First, an attempt to introduce compulsory task- 
work, in imitation of Sir Lionel Smith, and in opposition to 
an express enactment of the Apprenticeship Law. Secondly, 
his decisions on a number of charges preferred by Joseph 
Fadelle against certain individuals, high in office, in Dominica, 
We have before us a pamphlet, which may be considered to 
contain mi ex parte view of this subject in favom* of Sir Evan 
MacGregor. Since it consists entirely of his own statement 
of the several charges, his references to the evidence, his cita- 
tions and intei-pretations of the laws, his decisions on the 
separate charges, and his concluding " general remarks." A 
careful perusal of it has brought us to the conclusion, that his 
interpretations of the Abolition Law are destructive of the 
spirit and intention of the English Act, and that his decisions 
and ''remarks" display a strong bias in favour of the accused 
parties. Sir Evan thus speaks in his " general remarks" of 
the success likely to attend efforts to protect the apprentices 
by the exposure of the oppressions to w^hich they are subjected : 
" Unless through the kindness and favour of their masters, 
whom they ought rather to be encouraged to propitiate by 
submission, than goaded to exasperate by impotent resistance, 
the apprenticed labourers may look in vain for an amehoration 
of their lot." This striking passage explains what is the ac- 
tual condition, in law and fact, of the apprenticed labourers. 
They have no rights which they can eifectuaUy maintain in 
opposition to the despotic will of their owners. The Abolition 
Law, so far from being largely intei-preted in their favour as 
an Act intended for their benefit, and on the theory that, sub- 
ject to certain -well-defined restrictions, they are fj-ee men, is 
interpreted largely in favour of their masters, and on the theory 
that, with certain ill-defined immunities, they are still slaves. 



375 



SECTION IV. 

Comparative Condition of the Apprentices. — It ap- 
pears evident that the negroes in this colony have gained no- 
thing by the exchange of slavery for apprenticeship. It is 
the general belief of many residents and eye-witnesses, that 
their yoke during the earlier part of. the new era was even 
heavier than before. Some good subsequently was effected 
by the favourable influence of Sir Evan MacGregor; and 
more recently some of the planters',^ including one gentleman 
who is attorney for the majority of the estates of the absentee 
proprietors, have themselves pursued a more indulgent course. 
With all these alleviations, we believe the negroes to have 
gained nothing by the twenty millions but the hope of freedom 
in 1840. 

In many instances they are deprived of the old slave allow- 
ances of salt fish and meal, &c. Their children are neglected, 
and mothers are compelled to repay the time lost in attendance 
on them when sick. Pregnant women are sometimes kept at 
labour in the field nearly to the day of their delivery. The 
people are often kept at work in the field in heavy rain, at the 
risk of their health. The power of imprisonment in the estates' 
cachots, conferred by the Local Act, as a security against the 
escape of offenders, is frequently employed by the managers 
as a punishment ; and, lastly, they have no protection against 
ill-treatment from persons who are not their employers. The 
special magistrate has not power to summons before him, on 
the complaint of an apprentice, any person of free condition 
other than the person entitled to the services of the apprentice. 
He has power, however, to punish an apprentice on the com- 
plaint of any person whatever. An apprentice, therefore, in 
case he is ill-treated by any free person other than his master, 
must resort to the general Justices of the Peace, or to the 
supreme Courts of the island. We have before us thirteen 
examples of the practical value of this privilege, in a list of as 
many cases of apprentices assaulted by free persons, not their 
owners, within the short space of one month, who, after mak- 
ing many applications, could get no Justice of the Peace to 
entertain their complaints. 



•'TJ-NTTITX. 



MARTINIQUE. 



Copies of the Petitions of the Coloured Proprietors of 
Martinique, for the immediate Abolition of Slavery. 

No. 1. 

Abolition de l'esclavage. Les hommes de couleur 
de la Martinique aux deux Chambres. — Les cris de li- 
berie qui se sont fait entendre dans les iles voisines sous la do- 
mination Brittanique en faveur d'une classe si nombreuse de 
notre population, ont retenti dans nos coeurs. 

Nous Savons par experience que les garanties promises par 
les lois et les ordonnances de la Metropole, sont inefficaces 
dans la pratique, et qu'il n'ya pour ceux auxquels le legislateur 
a denie I'immense bienfait de la liberte, aucune compensation, 
aucune moyen de faire respecter en eux les droits de I'huma- 
nite. Malgre I'etat de degradation ou la servitude les a places, 
le sentiment de la liberte vit imperissable au fond de leurs coeurs 
et met aujourdhui plus que jamais en peril la securite desbiens 
et des personnes libres. 

Nous croyons qu'il est impossible de retarder plus long 
temps sans de graves dangers I'entiere abolition de l'esclavage. 

Nous sommes prets comme proprietaires a faire tous les 
sacrifices que la Metropole voudra nous imposer k cet egard, et 
a concourir avec les legislatures a 1' emancipation morale autant 
que physique, de la population au milieu de laquelle nous 
sommes places. 

Que des lois genereuses et sages fixent les principes de 
cette regeneration. Quelles se confient a notre fidelite, a notre 
amour pour la Metropole et la reussite en est assuree. 

Quand les esclaves sauront que nous n'avons pas mis obstacle 
a ce que leurs chaines soient brisees, ils croiront a nos paroles, 
et ne refuseront pas les travaux dont nous leur donnerons 
I'exemple. 



APPENDIX. 377 

No. 2. 

Saint Pierre, 25th Novembre, 1836. 
Petition derniere, aux deux Chambres. 

M. 

Nous venons rendre hommages aux nobles sentimens 
qui animent les Chambres et le Gouvernement envers la classe 
la plus malheureuse, la plus nombreuse de nos colonies. 

Les promesses solemnelles de S. E. le Ministre de la Marine 
et des colonies a la Chambre des Deputes dans sa seance du 25 
Mai dernier, nous ont penetre de la plus vive reconnaissance ; 
nous voyons avec le plus profond interet que le Gouvernement 
est determine a faire cesser I'esclavage, en ce qu'elle est contraire 
au principe fondamental de toutes les societes, et n'etant utile ni 
au maitre ni a I'esclave. Nous applaudissons a sa genereuse 
resolution ; nous y concourirons autant qu'il sera en nous, nous 
soumettant a tous les sacrifices qui pourront nous etre imposes. 

Quand il n'y aura plus d'esclaves aux colonies, il ne sera 
plus necessaire d'y envoyer ces fortes garnisons transportees a 
grands frais pour maintenir la soumission des ateliers, I'autorite 
et la security precaires des maitres. Devenus soldats et citoy- 
ens, les afiranchis seront interesses au maintien de I'ordre 
pubHc et a defendre le pays qui les a vus naitre. 

Enfans du sol, ils n'auront pas a redouter les efFets d'un 
climat destructeux qui enleve chaque annee de nombreux 
defenseurs a la mere patrie ! 

Ainsi rem.ancipation des esclaves sera un acte d'humanite, 
de justice et de bonne politique ; nous I'appelons de tous nos 
vceux, reprouvant k I'avance toutes resolutions opposees. Avec 
elle, renaitront la securite, I'ordre et la tranquillite ; avec elle, 
le travail libre et salarie remplacera le travail force et humiliant 
qui demoralize, et le maitre et I'esclave ; par elle se formeront 
des liens de famille incompatibles avec I'etat d'esclavage quel 
quil soit ! 

Mais en promettant notre concours au Gouvernement, nous 
emettons aussi le voeu qu'il adopte des mesures tendantes a ac- 
croitre I'industrie coloniale et qu'il lui accorde la liberte com- 
merciale, au moins pour les objets les plus necessaires a la vie 
des habitans de toutes les classes. 

Nous avons I'honneur d'etre, &c. &c. &c, 
2 K 3 



378 APPENDIX, 

BARBUDA. 



Of the three seamen in our httle schooner vrho were Barba- 
dians, two were exiles from their homes, and the third was a 
colonred boy, the son of the late Superintendent of the island, 
who is mentioned by Sir Bethel Codringtonin his public corre- 
spondence on slaver}^ with T. F. Buxton. Many of our readers 
will remember, that Barbuda is the private property of Sir 
Bethel, and that the happy condition of its inhabitants was 
brought prominently foi-ward by him, in the correspondence 
referred to. The boy above mentioned is left, without any 
education, to earn his bread as a cabin boy in a small coasting 
schooner, a Hfe of all others distinguished by hardship and pri- 
vation. Before emancipation, there were five hundred slaves 
in Barbuda ; none would have quitted it voluntarily, as they 
are attached to their native soil, to theh fertile gardens, and 
varied employments of agriculture, hunting, fishing, piloting, 
and diving. At the present moment, however, upwards of a 
hundred of them are in banishment in Antigua. The will of 
the Superintendent is law, and for eveiy real or supposed 
offence they are Hable to be ordered off the island. Our cap- 
tain, who is employed by the Superintendent, and has evidently 
no S}Tnpathies for the negroes, told us, that on one occasion 
since they became free, when their labour was not wanted, in 
consequence of the diy season, the people were all dismis- 
sed but thirt}', and that they were pardoned and permitted to 
return as soon as seasonable weather set in I They receive 
wages from the Superintendent, but as he is the sole shop- 
keeper, much of the money circulates back again into his till. 

During our stay in Antigua, we had several opportunities of 
conversing with persons acquainted with the state of Barbuda. 
It was originally granted to the ancestor of its present proprie- 
tor for ninety-nine years, and at the expiration of this period, 
was re-granted by George IV. for a term of fifty years, on the 
condition that the grantee should present the Governor of An- 
tigua annually with a fat wether sheep. The island is nearly 
as large as Antigua, and veiy fertile. The cultivation of the 
cane is not permitted by the terais of the tenure, but a large 



APPENDIX. 



379 



revenue is derived from its timber, corn, cattle, sheep, and 
deer. The salvage of wrecks is another productive source of 
income, as the island is low and nearly surrounded by a coral 
reef, running out for miles into the sea. A daily look-out is 
kept, and the negroes are very active in rendering assistance to 
"WTecked vessels, being familiar with the intricate navigation, 
and very expert in the use of boats, arid in swimming and div- 
ing. During slavery, Barbuda was also a nursery for slaves, 
to supply the waste on the Codrington estates in Antigua, from 
whence a few families, the ancestors of its present numerous 
population, were originally brought. They are the most robust 
islanders in these seas, and distinguished by the primitive sim- 
plicity of their character. Heinous crimes are unknown 
among them. They have no laws, and the sole authority is the 
Superintendent, who holds the commission of a Justice of the 
Peace from the Governor of Antigua. They have no resident 
religious instructor. Several years ago, the Wesleyan mis- 
sionaries of Antigua paid occasional visits to the island, 
until they were prohibited, and their congregation violently 
dispersed by the late Superintendent. The Bishop of Bar- 
badoes, soon after his arrival, appointed a resident cate- 
chist, who stayed a short time, and was followed by several 
others in succession. We met the last of these at Dominica, 
an energetic young man, who, like his predecessors, had been 
compelled to relinquish his charge by disagreements with the 
Superintendent. Most of the people, both and old yoimg, are 
able to read, and a few to write. Many are married, but con- 
cubinage, one of the many evils resulting from the absence of 
a resident minister, prevails to a great extent. The island has 
no resident medical man, until recently one of the emancipated 
slaves, an intelligent coloured man, acted in this capacity ; but 
he has lately left it to seek a more extended sphere for the ex- 
ercise of his skill. 

Barbuda is within the legislative power of the government 
of Antigua ; but the parliament of that island has always refused 
to undertake the responsibility of legislating for it. Their neg- 
lect, at the time they abolished slavery in their own island, to 
enact the apprenticeship in this, is said to have induced the 
proprietor to adopt the graceful alternative of emancipating the 



380 APPENDIX. 

slaves by a deed under his own hand. It is reported that an 
individual, of known liberal sentiments, has recently been ap- 
pointed, and is expected shortly from England, to take the office 
of Superintendent. Should this happily be the case, w^e trust 
that this little despotism w^ill be administered with more regard 
than it has hitherto been, to the temporal and spiritual interests 
of its inhabitants. 



BARBADOES. 



SECTION I. 

Pauper Population. — There is a class of several thousand 
poor whites in Barbadoes, known by the name of " red shanks;" 
many of whom are dependent on parochial and casual relief, 
and even on the charity of the apprentices. The competition of 
the coloured people has driven them out of almost every field 
where free labourers were wont to exercise their skill and in- 
dustry. From their idle and dissolute habits they are more 
degraded than the negroes, but are proud of their caste as 
whites. There are only a few individuals of the coloured class 
receiving parochial relief. 



SECTION II. 

Stipendiary Administration op the Abolition Law.— 
The following is an analysis of the record of complaints and de- 
cisions made in one month in a single district. The document 
from which it is extracted was taken up at random, and was 
subsequently ascertained to be in no respect distinguished from 
the journals of several of the other magistrates, either in num- 
ber of cases or nature and severity of punishments. 

Barbadoes— District D. December, 1836. 

One complaint of apprentice against employer, in which the 
latter was fined £5 currency for flogging complainant. 

Two hundred and twenty -six complaints of employers against 
apprentices. The sum total of the penalties inflicted on the 
apprentices is : — 



APPENDIX. 



381 



Imprisonment and hard labour 697 days 

Ditto ditto - on the tread-mill 180 ,, 

SoHtary confinement :, ,, 127 >, 

Saturdays forfeited to the estates ,, ,, 517 ,, 

In addition to which the apprentices must repay to the estates, 
pursuant to a clause in the Local Act, upwards of seven hun- 
dred of their Saturdays, being the amount of working days 
lost by them, w^hen at hard labour, in solitary confinement, or 
on the tread-mill. The total is more than two thousand two 
hundred days in which two hundred and twenty- six negroes 
were m ulcted in one district in a single month. The charac- 
ter of the law, under which these punishments take place, will 
appear in its true colours, when it is considered that there are 
seven districts in the island, and that the apprenticeship ex- 
tends over a period of six years. 



The following cases, from various journals of the Stipendiary 
Magistrates, of the date of December, 1836, are a fair specimen 
of the offences which are considered to require magisterial 
interference. They need no comment.* 



COMPLAINANT. 

G. R. Doyle. 



Jane, (appren- 
tice.) 



ThomasFrancis. 



Rebecca Story. 



DEFENDANT. 

Eight males, 
teen females. 



P^achael Clark, 
(employer.) 



Tom Cullen. 



Mary Eliza. 



COMPLAINT. 



Indolent 
labour. 



performance of 



Not supplying complainant 
with provisions for seven 
days. 



Harbouring an apprentice. 
Defendant states that the ap- 
prentice was his wife. 



Defendant has been a run- 
away for the last six weeks. 
Defendant acknowledges the 
complaint, and says it was in 
consequence of not being able 
to get any thing to eat. 



DECISION- 

To perform 
three days' 
extra labour. 

To pay dou- 
ble value, a- 
mounting to 
6s. 3d, cur- 
rency. 

Sentenced 
to pay6^. 5s., 
or to receive 
twenty - four 
stripes on the 
1st January. 

Thirty days' 
hard labour. 



* It will readily be conceived that under such an administration of the law the 
apprentices must often have cause to appeal to the Governor. It is, therefore, with 
great regret we learn, that Sir Evan MacGregor has made an arrangement by which 
they are precluded from appealing to him unless they are furnished with a ticket from 
their stipendiary magistrate, the very individual against whose decision the appeal is 
made. Their right of appeal is thus virtually taken away. 



382 



APPENDIX. 



COMPLAINANT. 

Miss N. Seals. 



Mary Frances. 



Biossom. 



John Mvers. 



Wm. A. Moore. 



E. L. Hinds. 



J.T. Hutchinson. 



R. X. Smith. 



A.Toderingham. 



R. W. Harding. 



DEFENDANT. 

Sarah Francis. 



Mrs. R. Tapshan. 



William Adamson. 



Seven pregnant 
females. 



Nine predial ap- 
prentices, (five wo- 
men and fonrmen.) 



Five apprentices 



Matty. 



Eight women. 



Charles King 



COMPLAINT. 

Inattention to vrork, and Ten days' 
disobedience of orders. De- hard labour. 
fendant acknowledges com- 
plaint, but says complainant 
ordered her to throw ber child 
on the wharf. 

" I am apprentice to the de- Defendant 
fendant who hires me out to to remit the 
Mrs. Gallop, and takes all my 1 If dollars and 
wages ; she h.as not given me pay 14*. {9s. 
any clothes for the present 6d. sterling) 
year, and also refuses to give besides, 
me lodging." Defendant says lieuof clothes, 
complainant is hired out with 
an agreement to pay her* five 
bitts a week, (2s.,) and receive 
TWO for herself md.) for food 
and clothes, and that the com- 
plainant owes her at this mo- 
ment If dollars for wages. 



For not providing whole- 
some lodging. 



Indolent performance of 
duty. 



Idleness. 



Idleness in resorting to the 

Hospital under pretence of 
sickness. Certificate of me- 
dical man produced to that 
efiect. 

Disobedience of theSni)er- 
intendent's (driver's) orders, 
and telling her she lied. 



Idleness and bad work. 



Absence from his duty six 
hotiTS. 



Complainant 
ordered to so- 
litary confine- 
mentfor three 
days. 

Three days' 
solitary con- 
finement. Me- 
dical certifi- 
cate said they 
could do some 
work. 

The men to 
work one Sa- 
turday each, 
the women 
two. 



To 

four 



work 

Satur- 



Eighteen appren- The Manager being sworn. All to work 
tices, (four males convicts the prisoners by de- three Satur- 

d fourteen fe- posing that their general con- days, 
males.) duct is exceedingly idle, and 

that chiding them for their 
improper conduct avails 
nothing. 

* In this case it will be observed that a poor woman earning less than 8«. a week 
pays 2». to her mistress, who requires her to find herself in food and clothes besides. 



days each. 



Seven days' 
confinement, 
and bard la- 
bour. 

Two sen- 
tenced . as 
above, six to 
forfeit three 
Saturdays. 

To work two 

Saturdays. 



APPENDIX. 



383 



COMPLAINANT. 

On the follow- 
ing day the same 
manager, appa- 
rently well satis- 
fied with having 
obtained fifty- 
four days from 
thenegroes, sum- 
moned twenty- 
eight more, viz. : 



DEFENDANT. 



Twenty-four wo- 
men and four men. 



Edwd.H. Taylor. 



H. G. Bayley. 



W. A. Moore. 



J. H. AUeyne. 



Ditto. 



W. T. Barton. 



Eve. 



Dick William. 



Kitty Ann, and 
Mercy Kate. 



Eight apprentices. 



Three apprentices. 



Ben Hagar. 



COMPLAINT. 

Witnesses complainant- 
William Daniel, Superin- 
tendent,(driver,) and Jemmy, 
first row man, " convict pri- 
soners by deposing that their 
general conduct is exceed- 
ingly idle, but was especially 
so on the 12th instant, and 
this morning, although 
threatened yesterday to be 
complained of to-day; and 
that there appears to be a 
combination amongst the 
labourers of this estate to 
resist the authorities placed 
over them and the law itself, 
and that Alick and Duchess 
are ringleaders of this con- 
duct amongst the labourers 
of said estate." 

Prisoner refused, on the 7th 
instant, to carry manure, as 
directed by himself and the 
Superintendent, in common 
with the other labourers ; 
and neglected to work on the 
iOth instant, as was her duty, 
to make good the time she 
was at the House of Cor- 
rection. 

Prisoner on the 3rd instant 
declared several times, in the 
presence of the whole gang, 
that he care nothing for the 
manager. 

On the 2nd instant they 
disobeyed the orders of the 
manager by singing aloud in 
the field, contrary to his po- 
sitive directions, and that 
they would not desist when 
directed so to do by him. 

Disobeyed the sub-mana- 
ger's orders, and performed 
their work very negligently, 
especially Polydore, who set 
all his orders at defiance, 
although a first row man,from 
whom a better example is 
expected. 

Deporting themselves very 
disorderly in the yard, on the 
16th instant, to the great an- 
noyance of their master's 
family. 

Sammy, Superintendent, 
deposes that on the 16th 
instant he detected her with 
a cane which had been re- 
cently cut from the field. 



DECISION. 

Alick and 
Duchess, one 
month's con- 
finement with 
hard labour 
each. The 
rest to work 
six Saturdays. 



Fourteen 
days' confine- 
ment with 
hard labour. 



To work 
three Satur- 
days. 



To work 
two Satur- 
days, 



Polydore to 
work four, the 
others three 
Saturdays. 



To work 
three Satur- 
days. 



To work 
three Satui'- 
days. 



384 APPENDIX. 

The comparative leniency of the law in the case where a 
master maltreats an apprentice is remarkable ; yet this dispro- 
portion is increased in the administration of the magistrates. 
We have before us the paiticulars of a case where an entire 
gang, composed of thirt}'^-two negroes, complained against their 
master, a wealthy proprietor, and member of Assembly, that 
they were kept in the field at work on one occasion, from 6 
A. M. till 1 p. M., without food or water, (under a burning sun ;) 
and again from 3 p. m. to 6 p. m., being ten hours, or one horn- 
more than the legal time. The defendant admitted that he 
ordered the diiver not to allow any of the gang to leave the 
field, and that they worked 9f hours. He was fined in the 
moderate penalty of one pound currency in each case, which 
the Governor, Sir Lionel Smith, was pleased to remit, at the 
same time approving of the conduct of the magistrate. Had 
the labourers been a few minutes after time they would have 
been punished, without appeal, by the forfeiture of several of 
their Saturdays to the benefit of the estate. Many other in- 
stances might be quoted, to show the contrasted leniency and 
severit}^ of the law in the opposite cases of planters and 
apprentices. 



SECTION HI. 

Scale of Labour. — The system of task- work, however de- 
sirable in itself, requires to be regulated by so many special 
circumstances, that it can never be introduced without injus- 
tice except by mutual and voluntaiy agreement between masters 
and labourers. This was so universally admitted, that the 
Apprenticeship Law expressly declared that task-work should 
not be imposed without the consent of the apprentices. It was, 
however, a favourite measure of Sir Lionel Smith to regulate 
the labour of the apprentices by a fixed standard ; notwith- 
standing the insuperable obstacles created by dificrences of soil, 
and fluctuations of weather, and inequahty of strength of indi- 
vidual labourers. He appointed a committee of three planters 
to draw up a " Scale of Labour," which he forwarded to each 
of the special magistrates, with the following instructions ; — 

" You will be furnished with printed copies of the scale ; and 



APPENDIX. 381 

I have to desire that it may be constantly hung up in your re- 
spective offices for public information. You will also have the 
goodness to distribute copies to the several estates in your dis- 
trict, with a request to the proprietors or managers, that they 
may be placed in some situation in the buildings of .the estate 
where they may be easily referred to by the apprenticed 
labourers. As there are few or no estates where there are not 
some among the negro population who can read, I am in hopes 
that this measure may prevent many complaints arising from 
misunderstanding and ignorance, being brought before you." 

The scale is entitled, " A Scale of the work to be performed 
by effective apprenticed labourers in the Island of Barbadoes, 
drawn up by the undersigned, appointed a committee for that 
purpose by his Excellency the Governor General, and subse- 
quently approved by his Majesty's Council." 

The principal column in the scale is headed, " Quantity of 
work to be performed by one or more labourers in one day of 
nine hours," which means that a gang is required to perform 
as many times the quantity of work set down as there are 
negroes composing it. The intention of the scale was to 
facilitate the introduction of task-work, which was accordingly 
generally resorted to when it was first issued, but soon we 
believe as generally abandoned. The scale, in the event of the 
failure of its first object, was intended to prevent complaints, 
and as a standard of punishments. Hence the facility with 
which the numerous vague and general complaints of idleness 
and insufficiency of work are disposed of by the special magis- 
trates. We took much pains to ascertain the real character of 
the scale, and the result of our inquiries in the Colony was, 
that "it is such a scale as the strongest negroes could not 
work upon for a twelvemonth together." In order still further 
to. satisfy ourselves, we forwarded a copy of it to Antigua, and 
requested a friend to obtain for us the opinion of planters re- 
siding in a part of the island where the soil is very similar to 
that of Barbadoes. In reply, one manager, speaking of the 
number of cane holes required by the scale says, " We usually 
bank our land with the plough, and cross-hole afterwards (with 
the hoe.) Our labourers would open in nine hours the quantity 
prescribed." What a comment is this on the severity of the 

2 L 



382 ' APPENDIX. 

Barbadoes scale, when the fact is stated, that the plough is not 
used in that colony, but that the labourers must both bank and 
cross-hole with the hoe ! Some remarks are made by our in- 
formant on other items of the scale, and the following general 
observations : — " The quantum of labour to be reasonably ex- 
pected must depend upon the land not only being stiff or light, 
but wet or dry, foul or otherwise, and other circumstances ;" 
and in the boiling-house, " the quantity made must depend on 
the wind, if a windmill is used, quality of the canes, distance 
of cartage," &c. " This plan must give a great deal of trouble 
and be a source of imtation." Another observes, that he 
agrees with the observation of the previous manager, " about 
the facilities for squabbles afforded by the scale submitted," and 
observes, that in the scale " there is more required than can 
always be yielded, and therefore it is oppresive if insisted on." 
When to these considerations is added the fact that the 
planters distribute the negroes into the various gangs at their 
own pleasure, it is e\ddent that the scale affords them opportu- 
nities of exacting a most oppressive amount of labour. "We 
have before us a case, the other particulars of which are of a 
gross character, where a girl, ten years of age, was sent 
by her master into the first gang with a heavy hoe as a punish- 
ment. The first or able-bodied gang may thus be augmented 
in number by the addition of young or weakly persons, and yet 
the full aggregate amount of labour required from it ; and by 
reference to the preceding section in this Appendix it will be 
seen, that the practice of bringing entire gangs before the 
magistrate for punishment is not infrequent. This scale 
" hung up" in their respective offices still regulates the decisions 
of the magistrates. 



SECTION IV. 

The Late Governor. — Sir Lionel Smith administered the 
affairs of this Colony in such a manner as to acquiret he con- 
fidence of the colonial minister, and to obtain promotion to the 
government of Jamaica, and several other marks of distinction 
and favour. He arrived in the Colony before the agitation of 
the abohtion measure. The strong opposition which it en- 



APPENDIX. 383 

countered threw the Governor into a position from whence he 
derived a reputation that his subsequent proceedings have by 
no means supported. His early pohcy, however, was decidedly 
in favour of the negroes, and to him it is mainly owing that the 
efforts made to bring about a general compulsory apprentice- 
ship of the children, soon after August, 1834, were defeated. 
A marked change was subsequently visible in his government. 
He adopted what he was pleased to consider a policy of con- 
ciliation, by which the interests of the negroes were sacrificed 
to the views of the planters. The stipendiary magistrates did 
not receive from him that support to which they were entitled, 
and when about to leave the island, in a farewell speech which 
he made to them, he intimated in terms which could not be 
mistaken, that Government was weary of the irritating con- 
troversies that the system created, and that, as the magistratee 
valued their places, they must conciliate the planters and keep 
things quiet, as they well knew the agriculture of the island 
must be kept up. 

The disgraceful state of the gaol at Bridgtown, under Sir 
Lionel's government, has already been described. 

The same change was visible in his conduct towards the 
coloured people. Though their poHtical disabilities had been 
nominally removed some years by a legislative enactment, they 
had as yet obtained a very insignificant share of power and influ- 
ence, in consequence of the value of freehold conferring the fran- 
chise having been raised simultaneously with the cession of their 
political rights, while the qualification of the existing voters was 
undisturbed ; so that the coloured freeholders in the towns are 
required to possess a house of the yearly value of thirty pounds, 
while a great body of white electors are qualified by the pos- 
session of tenements of the value of only ten pounds per annum. 
Sir Lionel Smith's professions of impartiality and freedom from 
prejudice excited great hopes in the minds of the coloured 
people. They expected at least that some of their number, 
men of wealth, education, and superior qualifications, would 
receive commissions in the magistracy. In this they were 
disappointed ; the only attempt made by the Governor in their 
favour was, by inviting a coloured gentleman to his table. One 
of his white guests manifested his offended feelings by leaving the 



384 APPENDIX. 

room, which created so much alarm that the Governor imme- 
diately relinquished his aggressive policy, and feU back upon 
conciliation. The real difficulties which he encountered may be 
estimated from the fact, that his successor, who made no pro- 
mises, placed two coloured men on the bench of magistrates, 
a few weeks after his arrival in the Colony, with the consent of 
the council. 

Sir Lionel Smith embarked for Jamaica amidst the execra- 
tions of the crowds of free blacks (apprentices) assembled on 
the beach. 



SECTION V. 

Note on the Apprenticeship of the Free Children. — 
We have intimated in the journal that the plan of procuring a 
general apprenticeship of the free children was revived in 
Barbadoes soon after the arrival of the present Governor. As 
this important subject has subsequently taken a favourable 
turn in the legislature of the island, we have omitted some 
important memoranda relating to it, that we made during our 
stay in the Colony. We are, however, prepared to prove, if 
called upon, that we have ample reason for asserting the exist- 
ence of the designs referred to. 



JAMAICA. 



SECTION I. 

Note on Priscilla Taylor's Case. — The statement in our 
journal having been taken down in the public room of the Ferry 
tavern, a garbled report of the investigation was published in 
the island newspapers. The facts of the case are much stronger 
than what originally appeared in England. We took much 
pains, on subsequent occasions, to verify them, and have in our 
possession more detailed statements, which explain the motives 
in which these disgraceful proceedings originated, and contain 
particulars of a still more revolting character than what are now 



AfPlNDIX. 385 

laid before the public. We were also favoured, during our stay 
in the island, with a letter from the special magistrate imph- 
cated in the transaction, who admits the fact of Priscilla Taylor 
having been chained to a man, but denies his participation in 
it. She subsequently purchased her freedom by valuation, 
under the fear of further persecution in consequence of our hav- 
ing seen her, for sixty-nine pounds. The money was lent to 
her by a fi'iend, on the security of a verbal promise of repay- 
ment from herself and her husband, who belongs to a different 
master. The gentleman alluded to informs us, that part of the 
amount has already been repaid out of the produce of their la- 
bour in cultivating provisions. 



SECTION II. 

Halfway Tree Workhouse. — We havebefore us the report 
of an action, (Wilkins v. Liddell,) instituted by a person on 
behalf of herself, her son, and her daughter, against the Super- 
visor of this workhouse for trespass. The complainants were 
apprehended as runaway apprentices, and confined for nearly a 
week in chains before they were taken before any special magis- 
trate, during which time the son was worked publicly in the 
penal gang. The facts were incontrovertibly proved, and the 
jury gave a verdict of thirty-five shillings ; an amount too small 
to carry costs. In the same court the complainants succeeded 
in proving that they were not apprentices. 

We have also the copy of a " brief in support of motion for 
criminal information v. Whiteman," which comprises the affi- 
davit of a female apprentice to the effect, that sbe was worked 
in the penal gang, chained to another girl ; that frequently, 
while on the tread-miU, she was flogged by the drivers, (who 
are all convict slaves,) and once severely flogged and kicked 
by the defendant, (who was the overseer or deputy-super- 
intendent of the workhouse.) Whiteman, in his affidavit, 
denies that he ever struck complainant, but does not deny 
that she was flogged by the drivers. He accuses her of having 
once thrown herself off the mill, at the same time " taking the 
whip out of the driver's hand" in his presence. The affidavits 
of the four drivers give defendant a high character ; declare 
2 L 3 



3S6 APPENDIX. 

they never saw him strike complainant ; and that, " on one 
occasion, she took the cat out of the driver's hand," when de^ 
fendant took it away and restored it to the driver. Through- 
out these affidavits the flogging of females on the tread-mill is 
not denied ; and it appears from the affidavits of the accused 
himself and his witnesses, that the convict drivers carried a cat 
when superintending women on the tread-miU. At the Court 
(June, 1836) at which this motion was made, the Gustos of 
St. Andrews, whose residence is near the Halfway Tree Work- 
house, and who, as chief magistrate of the parish, was in some 
measure implicated in its abuses, sat on the bench as one of 
the assistant judges. He publicly reprobated the conduct of 
the parties who brought the case forward, saying, " It was an 
infamous proceeding." The Attorney- General, besides insist- 
ing that the affidavits of Whiteman and the convicts were not 
conclusive, observed : " I have serious doubts as to the legality 
of chaining women in workhouses, and I want the Court to 
say whether it be legal or illegal to do so." The Chief Justice 
replied, " We will give you a decision on that point, if we must 
do so, but not otherwise.'' The application was subsequently 
refased, the Chief Justice observing, " The affidavit compre- 
hends chaining and coi-poral punishment; but the only real 
ground of complaint is the latter. We are not called upon 
to pronounce as to the chaining. There are four affidavits 
denying the principal charge, the preponderance of evidence 
is therefore in favour of Whiteman, and we must deny the 
application." This is one of several instances where the 
attempt to procure the redress of gross abuses in the houses of 
con-ection, by instituting suits of criminal infoi*mation in the 
Island Courts, has proved abortive. 



SECTION III. 

The Non-Registered Slaves. — It has been stated in our 
journal, that in one parish, several hundred non-registered 
slaves have obtained their freedom, while in other parts of 
the island they are still held in slavery. A proprietor in St. 
Andrew's parish has fifteen of these negroes, some of whom^ 



APPENDIX. 387 

as the magistrate of the district refused to coerce them, were 
brought down to the Special Court at Halfway Tree, were they 
were sentenced to be flogged. The recent Jamaica papers re- 
port another case m the parish of Hanover, where a negro, 
about two years ago, being ill, and not hkely to live, was 
turned adiift by his master, who informed him that he was free, 
as he was not registered. The man recovered, and was then 
reclaimed, brought before a special magistrate, and flogged for 
refusing to work. He ran away to Spanish Town, and ap- 
pealed to the Governor, who instructed the stipendiary that 
he could not coerce a non-registered slave as an apprentice. 
The negro thus obtained his freedom, hired himself to work on 
an estate for half a dollar a day, but when he applied for his 
wages, was told by the overseer they should be paid over to 
his owner. He appealed to the petty sessions for the recovery 
of the amount, but was told by the local magistrates he was an 
apprentice. He was then employed by the rector of the parish, 
who has recently been fined ten pounds by the same local magis- 
trates for harbouring an apprentice, under what is called the 
inveigling clause of the Act in Aid. 

In the Jime Grand Court of Assize, a case (Bayley v. 
Ewart) was brought forward for the purpose of obtaining a 
formal decision whether a non-registered slave was an ap- 
prentice, or legally firee. Tlrie majority of the bench decided 
that he was an apprentice. The Chief Justice rested his argu- 
ment to this effect, chiefly on the decision of the Privy Council 
in the Mauritius case. The Hon. Thomas J. Bernard, one of 
the assistant judges, and a planter, dissented from this decision, 
and maintained in a candid and able argument, that non-regis- 
tration did confer freedom. Should the attempts become ge- 
neral to carry out this decision, and to re- enslave the few non- 
registered negroes who have recovered their hberty, the worst 
consequences may be expected to ensue ; and, meanwhile the 
precarious freedom which they enjoy is nothing better than an 
unprivileged outlawry. 

The law, fraudulently entitled an "Act for the Abolition of 
Slavery," enacts in express terms, that " aU persons who, in con- 
formity with the laiL's of the said colonies respectively, shall have 
been duly registered as slaves^ 8^c., shall become and be appren- 



388 APPENDIX. 

ticed labourers." The Chief Justice of Jamaica has decided, 
that those who were not duly registered according to law are 
apprentices. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that in the re- 
spective colonies, proprietors who neglected to register their 
slaves incurred heavy penalties ; so that the effect of the Abo- 
lition LavvT, as interpreted by the Chief Justice of Jamaica, is 
not to emancipate the non-registered slaves from the bondage 
in which they are illegally held, but to relieve their masters 
from the penalties which they have incurred by so holding 
them. 



SECTION IV. 
STATEMENT OF APPRENTICES. 

PARISH OF ST. THOMAS IN THE VALE. 

i. — Wallen's Estate and Rose Hall Estate, both in 
charge of Henry Lowndes, the former as owner, the latter as 
representative of Richard Lee, James Esdaile, and William 
Thwaites, of London. — ^The negroes on these properties v/ork 
on the dght hour system out of crop. In crop time they work 
eleven hours a day for five days, viz., from four to eleven a.m., 
and from one to five p.m., being fifteen hours extra per week, 
for which they receive two shillings and one penny. The head 
boiler-man receives five shillings, and the three next four and 
two-pence, but the latter frequently work till ten at night. 
Under the old system, the salt fish and syrup which they re- 
ceived were worth more than their present wages. They said, 
with regard to the mode in which this arrangement was intro- 
duced, " When the master want any thing done out of the peo- 
ple, he send for the magistrate, and the magistrate open it to 
the people, and they are obliged to agree to it, else they are bad 
servant, and might get punished if they did not agree." On 
Rose Hall the people refused the bargain ; but the men were 
promised a new shirt, and the women a new petticoat, if they 
would do their work weU, and not steal. They then agreed, 
but do not expect to receive them, as salt fish was always pro- 
mised to be given them after crop was over, which they never 
received. One of the apprentices has a watch. He says some- 



APPENDIX. 389 

times the shell-blows (in the morning, at mealtimes, and in the 
evening) are very correct, and sometimes they are an hour, at 
others half an hour behind time, but the people are always 
summoned back to the field in good time. He said, " If a gun 
was placed at Rodney Hall, and a soldier was sent from town 
to fire it evei*y day at the shell-blows, every thing would go on 
right," Before the apprenticeship, the negroes on these estates 
used each to receive six shads a week, and the head men twelve 
shads and a quart of rum. These allowances are now discon- 
tinued. The yearly distribution of clothes, duripg slavery, was 
six yards of osnaburg, six yards of coarse cloth, four of baize, 
one hat, and one handkerchief; now, it is only seven yards of os- 
naburg, and three of baize, besides the hat and handkerchief. 
The cooks, who used to prepare their meals in the field, and to 
carry water for them to drink while at work, have been taken 
away. The sick are often turned out of the hospital before 
they are well. The doctor attends once a week, but treats the 
people very roughly. They used, when sick during slavery, to 
have oatmeal and sugar allowed them, and occasionally a little 
wine ; now not a morsel of food is given to them ; they must sup- 
port themselves, or be supported by their relations. No longer 
ago than to-night, a girl, who was very sick, was told by the 
overseer that she might go the hospital, but there was no medi- 
cine for her ; and a fellow- apprentice was obliged to give her some 
" out of his own expense." If a free child is taken ill, parents 
have to pay back the time they spend in attending to it : if the 
doctor sees it they have to pay him ; and some of them have 
been charged ten shillings. Before the first of August, pregnant 
women used to draw off (from work) six weeks before they 
laid down. Now they are allowed no time before delivery, and 
only four weeks afterwards. 

George Davidson, the head carpenter on Wallen's, has been 
twice valued, first time about a year ago, for three hundred 
and fifty-two pounds ; he appealed to the Governor, who di- 
rected a fresh valuation, when he was rated at two hundred 
and thirty pounds ; but this second valuation was set aside. 
He says his master brought a great number of persons " to 
swear against his character : who put trades upon him that he 
knew nothing about, and made out there was nothing he could 



390 APPENDIX. 

not do." He has now given up all idea of purchasing Mraself. 
He is getting on for sixty years of age, and " thinks the free- 
dom will not come soon enough to do him much good." His 
master wanted to make him a constable, but he declined it on 
account of his being weak in strength, " and because he did 
not like to take the Bible in his hand too often." 

Byndloss Estate, John Dand, Proprietor. — Five appren- 
tices from this property state that their extra work during crop 
and remuneration for it, are the same as onWaUen's and Rose. 
Hall. They would not agree at first, but the special magistrate 
threatened and abused them till they consented. Out of crop 
they work from seven o'clock in the morning till five, and 
sometimes six in the afternoon, without any intermission for 
meals. They get no time to prepare their food, except by 
rising early to cook their breakfasts before they go to the field 
at seven o'clock. We cross-examined them about the time, 
and their accounts were clear and consistent. They said they 
knew the time by the shell-blows on the neighbouring estates, 
and by the " gun-fire" at six o'clock in the evening. They 
said the apprentices were better treated in the hospital than on 
Wallen's, as they sometimes received oatmeal, &c. ; but the 
pregnant women are allowed no time before delivery, and only 
nine days afterv>fards. They complained also of the injury they 
sustained by the trespass of the estates' cattle in their grounds. 

Dawkins'sTreadway's Estate, SirW. H. Cooper, Trustee. — 
Two apprentices state that in crop time they work from four in 
the morning till eight at night evei*y alternate day, with the 
intermission of only half an hour for breakfast, giving up also 
their half Friday. For this amount of extra labour, they 
received last year two shiUings and sixpence a week; this 
season their only pay is six herrings a week. They were told 
they should not have their Christmas allowance if they did not 
agree, and last year they did not receive any allowance at 
Christmas (1835-6.) Out of crop they work from six to six, 
with the intermission of only one hour for breakfast. They 
have every alternate Friday, but have been deprived of the salt 
fish, which was distributed to them weekly during slavery. It 
may be easily imagined that this system of depriving the people 
of their time during crop, without remuneration (a system of 



APPENDIX. 391 

gross fraud and oppression which is carried into effect by the 
coercive powers of the special magisrates) does occasionally 
excite some expression of a sense of the injustice with which 
they are treated, from the negroes. Some weeks after the 
above statement was made to us by the apprentices from Daw- 
kins' s Treadway's, a neighbouring missionary was compelled to 
appeal on their behalf to the Governor. The following is a 
copy of his letter, addressed to the Secretary for the stipendiary 
magistrates' department. 

" Jericho, St. Thomas in the Vale, 

March 31st, 1837. 
" Sir, 

I beg you will please make his Excellency the 
Governor acquainted with the case of the apprentices belong- 
ing to Treadway's estate in this parish. I was last evening in- 
formed that the whole of those engaged in taking off the crop 
meant to repair to Spanish Town to-night, in order to com- 
plain to his Excellency of the usage they are receiving. On 
hearing this, I sent to request them to remain at home in per- 
fect quietness and submission, and promised to make known 
to his Excellency their situation; and also their account of 
the conduct of Captain Reynolds, the special justice of their 
district, towards them. The account they give is, that one 
spell works (at the boiling-house) from four o'clock, a.m., to 
eleven o'clock, a.m., and is then relieved by the second spell, 
which continues till eight o'clock, p.m. That the first spell is 
sent into the field to cut canes soon after it is relieved, (at 11, 
A.M.,) and works until six, p.m., or thereabouts; that the se- 
cond spell, previous to relieving the first, (at the sugar works,) 
works in the field from six o'clock, a.m., to near eleven o'clock ; 
that those in the field are required to cut down canes and tie 
them up in bundles for the wains, and so to supply the mill 
that one of the speUs may occasionally go to clean young canes : 
that for this amount of extra time and labour, (about six work- 
ing hours per diem,) they receive six herrings, most of them 
broken ones, in the week ; that when they objected to this re- 
muneration as being too small, the value of six herrings being 
only five pence, Captain Reynolds told them roughly that he 



392 APPENDIX. 

did not care if they would not take it, but they should do the 
work, or he would send for the police to make them work, or 
carry them to Rodney Hall Workhouse to be punished ; or 
words to this effect : that on Monday last, they were called 
up before Captain Reynolds, who heard the charge of the 
overseer against the people for insufficiency of work, but would 
not hear a word from the apprentices in their defence, and 
sentenced them all to lose five alternate Saturdays. That an 
apprentice named Sally Hutchinson attempted to speak. They 
state that Captain Reynolds said, ' I don't want to hear a 
word.' She then said, ' You can't make we speak and hear 
one word from we, to see whether we for right or wrong.' 
Capt. R. replied, ' Woman, hold your tongue ; if you don't, I 
W'ill send you straight off to Rodney Hall !' The woman, with- 
out noticing the threat, proceeded ; ' Massa, we have to cut 
cane, then tie, we can do no more ; we not have enough of 
'prentice to carry on the work.' She was ordered into the 
charge of the constable, and sent to be locked up in the hot- 
house. As she was going, Capt. R called her back, and re- 
quu'ed her to beg pardon. She replied, ' Massa, me no do 
nothing to beg your pardon, Sir.' She was then sent off to 
Rodney Hall to be confined for a week, as it is said, in the 
darkroom. The people went to their attorney, Mr. Bernard, 
when he visited the property, after sentence had been passed, 
to complain to him of their usage, but they say he would not 
hear them, nor give them the least satisfaction ; and as this 
was the case, they agreed to wait until this evening, when 
they expected Saturday would be their day, and then proceed 
to lay their grievances before his Excellency the Governor ; 
but one of them thought it best first to consult with me, when 
I gave the advice above stated, and promised to represent to 
you, in order to be laid before his Excellency, an account of 
this matter. 

*' I have the honour to be. Sir, 

•'Your obedient Servant, 

"JOHN CLARKE. 

" P.S. — Having obtained a copy of the commitment, I take 
the liberty to transcribe it to accompany the above case." 



APPENDIX. 393 

"Jamaica, ss. 

" To the Keeper of the House of Correction, 
Rodney Hall. 
" Receive into your custody the body of Sally 
Hutchinson, an apprentice of Treadways, this day brought 
before me for using violent language, and endeavouring to 
persuade the gang that they were sentenced to pay back too 
much labour to the estate by the magistrate. I therefore sen- 
tence Sally Hutchinson to six days confinement in the House 
of Con'cction, &c. 

Signed, 

"T. REYNOLDS, S. J/' 
Given under my hand, 
this 27th day of March, 1837. 

To the above letter the writer, at the time we saw him. 
about six weeks after its date, had received no answer from 
the Governor. 

Berwick Estate. — Sir A. C. Grant, proprietor. — Three 
apprentices state, that Dr. Palmer came four times on the es- 
tate, but only punished the people twice by taking away sixteen 
hours of their time. The overseer said that would not do 
for him, and complained to the Governor, who ordered Mr. 
Cooper to take charge of Berwick. When he paid his first 
visit, the overseer complained to him that the people had been 
idle during Dr. Palmer's time, for which Cooper sentenced 
them to pay four days. The people refused, and went to 
Palmer, who told them to do every thing that Cooper said. 
The latter came with the police and flogged one man, and sent 
a woman to the tread-mill for fourteen days. Dr. Palmer always 
told them to work well, and said if they did not he would pu- 
nish them. He did not flog them like the other magistrates, 
nor take away their Saturdays to give to the property. They 
do work well, but their overseer is never satisfied, and is con- 
tinually complaining to get their time taken away, though there 
is not a cane piece on the estate that is not in good order. 
Since August, 1834, they have never had a field cook, till two 
months ago. They get no salt fish, except in crop. In crop, 
the people give up their half Fridays, and receive for their ex- 
tra work, the mill people two shillings and sixpence, the boiler- 

2 M 



394 APPENDIX. 

men three shillings and fourpence, and the cattle boys one 
shilling and elevenpence a week. They work about sixteen 
hours a day. The watchman for the negro grounds was taken 
away about a year before August, 1 834, and they have thrown 
up their grounds on accoimt of the ti-espass of cattle. They 
have now only Httle gardens about their houses. The hospital 
is surrounded by a fence like a jail, which is kept locked all 
day. The pregnant women are not allowed to sit down, but 
go home fi*om the field, and are dehvered the same night. 
They are allowed about fom- weeks aftei-wards. 

Rio Mango. — Belonging to the same proprietor. — An ap- 
prentice complains, " that they are living ven- hard. They 
have had no salt fish since Ckristmas ; they are employed job- 
bing on Berwick. Their grounds are mashed up by the cattle, 
and they are obliged to go far into the woods and cut out a 
little place for gi-ounds." 

Palm. — Judith Gutteres, proprietor. — Two apprentices from 
this estate state, that then* provision grounds ai'e on the line of 
the Recess plantation, belonging to Mr. Gyles. Gyles' s cattle 
got in and eat it down smooth. They caught them, and di'ove 
them down to their overseer, who would not send them to the 
pound, but ordered them to take them back to Mr. Gyles. 
Neither Gyles nor their own overseer would give them anv 
kind of satisfaction. The latter said he would not put a stop 
to Mr. Gyles's cattle eating their provisions, because when 
they had plenty to live on, they would sit down and not do 
any thing for him. They were compelled to give up their 
grounds, and content themselves with a Httle garden about 
their houses, but the estate's cattle ti-espass in that, and they 
can get no redress. They cannot take them to the pomid 
■without a WTitten paper, and they can get no satisfaction fi"om 
the overseer. " We were better off in Dr. Palmer's time. 
We made many complaints to him about the cattle, and he 
scold the busha. The busha used then to give us a paper to 
take cattle to the pound." 

THE PARISH OF ST. ANN. 

Apprentices fi'om New Ground, Chester, Banks, Drax Hall, 
Blenheim, and Windsor estates, and Carlton Pen, state as 
follows : — 



APPENDIX. 395 

On New Ground the people work from six to nine, from 
ten to half- past twelve, and from two to ten minutes before six 
every day. The overseer breaks them off a little before six, in 
order that he may call it eight hours, and thus deprive them 
of their half Fridays. He frequently strikes the apprentices, 
and if they complain they get no redress. He also puts them 
in the dungeon at his pleasure. The magistrate hears nothing 
they have to say. He is always drunk. In crop time the ap- 
prentices work by spells, and not in extra time, except the 
boiler-men, who receive six shillings and eight pence, the mill- 
feeders five shilhngs, and some others three shillings and four- 
pence per week. These work night and day. The night work 
has been added since they made the agreement, and they are 
still compelled to abide by it. The allowances of salt fish have 
been taken away, as well as their field cooks. They are not 
allowed to draw off during hea^-y rain, even if it lasts the 
whole day, because "their masters do not mind much now if 
they get sick and die." The old negroes are not supported 
by the estate. The free children have not the privilege of the 
hospital. The apprentices receive no food from the estate 
during sickness, and the hospital is kept locked. Sometimes 
invahds are ordered out too early; and then if they remain, 
they are required to repay the time. The pregnant women 
are worked in the field to within a few days of their confine- 
ment, and are allowed three or four weeks afterwards. The 
overseer lately sent to order a woman into the field, who had 
staid at her home because of her advanced pregnancy; and 
when the driver arrived, he found her actually delivered. The 
apprentices not long ago had to pay two Saturdays because 
they took the Tuesday at Christmas. 

Banks and Richmond. — Both these estates are under one 
attorney : the latter is the property of Ralph Bernal, M. P. 
Out of crop, the apprentices work from six to six, with inter- 
missions of two hours and a half for breakfast and dinner. 
They have no half Fridays, no payment for extra labour, no 
salt fish, no field cooks. Invahds get no food, nor old people 
any support from the estate. Pregnant women are allowed no 
more time than on New Ground. They sav it is useless to 
complain to the magistrate; "his hand shake so" that the 
overseer alwavs has to write his sentences for him. 



396 APPENDIX. 

Drax Hall. — Similar complaints, except that the appren- 
tices receive their salt fish, though irregularly. They are 
compelled, as on New Ground, to work in the rain. 

Chester. — Similar statements, and in addition there is no 
" hot house" (hospital) on this estate, no doctor, no medicine; 
when the people are sick, they have to provide these them- 
selves. They are defrauded of their extra time during crop. 

Blenheim. — ^The hospital is locked during the day. Ap- 
prentices are compelled to watch at night without any remune- 
ration. All the negroes on Cranbrook and Blenheim were 
mulcted five Saturdays recently, because some canes were 
stolen, and it could not be discovered by whom. They have 
been obliged in consequence to work their grounds on the 
Sabbath for a subsistence. 

Windsor. — The apprentices have been sentenced to pay 
three Saturdays to the estate for not turning out early in the 
morning, which they declare is a false accusation. 

Carlton Pen. — The apprentices make no complaints. 
They receive their salt fish, &c., as during slavery. 

Penshurst, the property of G. W. Senior. — Thomas Brown 
states, that " ever since Lord Mulgrave came into the country, 
massa has turned out very savage. In Lord Mulgrave's time 
I went up to hear the law ; when I returned, he took a cow- 
skin and beat me severely upon my back. Since he found that 
he can't raise his stick and mash us to pieces, he is worse than 
ever. I once went to Captain Connor to complain ; after he 
left, my master brought me before Dr. Thompson for it, who 
ordered me thirty lashes. He would not hear a word we had 
to say. The gang turn out at six, and draw oiF at six ; they 
have one hour for breakfast, and one for dinner. They are 
not allowed a cook to cook their victuals, or bring water to 
them in the field. They never used to get their half Fridays 
till this Governor came, and their minister wrote to him about 
it. Since then they have been compelled to work on Fridays 
from six till one, being allowed one hour for breakfast. They 
know the time by the shell-blow on neighbouring properties. 
The present magistrate (Rawlinson) will not listen to their 
complaints. If massa tell him the work is not going on well, 
and we working as hard as ever we can to oblige massa, and 
still not able to please him, the magistrates side with massa, 



APPENDIX. 397 

and take away our time. He took away three Saturdays from 
the whole gang about five months ago, because he said they 
did not work enough on a rainy day, though they staid in the 
field till shell-blow. They once had to go to Chester, a distance 
of twenty miles, to pick pimento. They were ordered to be 
there by nine o'clock in the morning, but could not reach it 
till twelve. The master complained also of the quantity they 
picked, although they picked all there was on the trees. They 
were sentenced to lose one Saturday. On one occasion, the 
whole gang were sentenced to clear five acres of land of heavy 
bush in their own time. It took four half Fridays. I had to 
build a wall, and built eight yards a day, having to pull the old 
one down myself. He gave me a woman to pull the old wall 
down, and then I built eleven yards a day. He complained I 
did not build enough, and the magistrate sentenced me to 
build thirty yards in my own time, which takes away all my 
half Fridays. He ordered me to be tasked, and my master set 
me to build twelve yards a day. I have to work from sun rise 
to sun down, and can't finish it. I have scarcely time to eat 
my breakfast. I tell him, ' Massa, I try to oblige you, and 
you won't be satisfied;' he answers me, 'You lie, you devil.' 
If he teU we do any thing we never refuse it ; we only want for 
massa to be satisfied. The people have never had salt fish 
since the apprenticeship, nor any Christmas allowance, except 
of clothing. The pregnant women are allowed only one week 
before dehvery, and three weeks afterwards. The hospital is 
a little bit of a hut. Dr. E. Tucker attends well to the people; 
but the free children do not go to the hospital ; several of them 
have died. The master thinks very hard of allowing their 
mothers time to suckle them. The negro houses are very 
wretched ; all of them let in water. The master says they can 
be punished for not keeping their houses and grounds in order, 
but he refuses to allow them time to do it, or to give them 
shingle or any other materials." 

Lavinia Trowers, Penshurst, has three children, and has been 
sick these four years, and can neither do any thing for herself 
nor for her master. He has several times put her in the dun- 
geon for three or four days at a time without speaking to the 
magistrate. Sometimes, when locked up, she has never seen 

2 M 2 



398 APPENDIX. 

her child to give him suck for a whole day and night. She is 
fed by her fellow apprentices and by her husband, who live& 
on Knapdale estate. Once Mr. Senior ordered her off the 
property, and told her she might go where she liked. She 
went to Knapdale, and Hved with her husband. When she had 
been away eight weeks the constable fetched her, and her master 
brought her before the mxagistrate as a run- away, but she was 
'\ in such poor condition" that he told the constable to take her 
back to the hospital. The magistrate said, if she went to 
Knapdale again he would have her husband punished severely. 
Her master gives her no medicine. He cannot bear a sick 
person on the property. " Two times I ask him for medicine, 
and he tell me to go to the Baptists." This woman was a poor, 
miserable looking object. Her statement was confirmed by 
eight or nine apprentices from the estate who were present, 

Amelia Lawrence, Penshurst. " When massa find fault," 
she said she did not know how to work to please him. For 
this she was sent to the tread- mill for seven days, and danced 
it night and morning, and worked on the road in chains. One 
day afterwards, on a Friday, the master ordered them to draw 
off for breakfast. She said the people would rather work on \ 
(to finish their half-day.) He said that she seemed a mistress 
at the top of the first row, and cursed and abused her. After 
breakfast, he put her in the dungeon till next day ; and when 
Mr. Rawlinson came she was sent to the workhouse for ten 
days. She has a lump on one of her wrists from being strap- 
ped to the rail, and was bruised on her legs by the mill. She 
came out the week before Christmas, and is still ill from its 
effects. She has been obliged to pay the doctor her own self, 
and has had to pay back the ten days to the estate. The driver 
at the workhouse beat the people well that could not dance the 
mill as well as in the penal gang. 

Maria Bailing, Penshurst. " Before the first of August I 
was in the small gang, and was afterwards ordered to go into 
the great gang. I went to Captain Connor, who said I must 
stay in the small gang, as I had six children living. "WHien he 
left I was ordered to the great gang, where I remain till now. 
I did not complain to Mr. Rawlinson ; he is such a thick friend 
with massa. He eat, drink, and sleep at massa's house." 



APPENDIX, -399 

William Dalling-, Penshurst. " I and massa used to be 
very good friends before August, (1834.) After August we 
fall out, because I join the Baptists, and he can't bear the 
Baptists near him. I am a house servant. All the allowance 
I received last year was six herrings twice. I have only eight 
yards of osnaburghs at Christmas, which is not sufficient to 
clothe me. I am almost starved, as niy ground is eaten up by 
the hogs." There were several other of the Penshurst appren- 
tices who all said that " their master is constantly in the habit 
of putting people in the dungeon without any authority." He 
takes them on Friday just before shell-blow, and takes them out 
on Saturday morning. The late magistrate. Captain Connor, 
did them justice, and heard what they had to say. " He never 
dined with massa ; but massa and the present magistrate agree 
well together." 

There w^ere also two free men, who had bought their time 
from Penshurst, in consequence of being treated harshly. One 
of them says his " master pulled his house down, broke up 
about half his furniture, and took away the rest." He got 
back the rest of his furniture, after a long time, by going to 
the magistrate. One of the men bought his time for fourteen 
doubloons. The other was asked eleven doubloons the first 
year of the apprenticeship. He worked fourteen months, and 
was then valued at twelve doubloons. He was obliged to sell all 
he had to raise the money. The apprentices from Penshurst 
gave the following account of the treatment of a man named 
Henry James : — " He was a watchman to a corn piece, which 
had no standing fence. The hogs and cattle got in. Massa 
complained to Dr. Thompson, who ordered him twenty stripes. 
The pohce were fetched to flog him. He was tied to a cart, 
and his hands and feet were stretched so wide that he was 
strained. He coughed blood four days afterwards. He was 
ill about a month ofi" and on in the hospital. They would not 
give him any medicine. He went to Brown's Town to com- 
plain to Captain Dillon. When he came back the doctor 
ordered him some medicine, but he did not get it. He went 
again to the magistrate, who said he did not know what to do, 
as the doctor was not there. The man told him he did not 
think, from the way he felt, that he should see him again. He 



400 APPENDIX. 

threw up blood, and dropped down dead a little while after he 
had left the Court House." 

Rose Hill Estate. — " The apprentices work from sun to 
sun. Their grounds are not protected, and the cattle trespass 
and destroy all their provisions. They used to be allowed a 
watchman. They get no salt fish. An apprentice says, his 
wife is sickly and unable to work. He beg massa to sell her 
time, but he said if she worth only fivepence he would not." 

Knapdale Estate. — An apprentice states, " I have had 
eleven children ; seven are living, three of them are free. I 
was allowed to leave the great gang and sit down for two years, 
and was sent into the field again a month before the law. The 
month before Christmas I got a little child, and had a swelled 
breast for three months. The doctor ordered me physic, but 
the overseer did not give it me. I was in the hospital two 
months, when I was ordered out to dig cane holes, which 
brought on fever. I teU the overseer, I don't able to work 
in that gang because I had so much piccaninny. He said, the 
law before and now quite a different thing ; and would not 
take me out of the great gang. I am obliged to work in the 
rear, and am not able to keep up with the rest. Magistrate 
sent me for seven days to dance the treadmill because the 
constable abused me, and then said I was insolent to him. 
When I came home my two foot was swelled quite big, and I 
was in the hospital three weeks. I am scarcely able to walk 
now, and if I sit down I can scarcely get on my feet again. 
When I was put on the tread-mill, the first day the driver gave 
me three licks on my back. I worked on the road in chains. 
When I was laid up with piccaninny I was delivered the very 
same day that I came from the field. I was ordered into the 
field three weeks afterwards. We do not get six half Fridays 
since the law came in." 

The husband of this apprentice made the following state- 
ment, at a different time : — ** Since my wife had the child, she 
had a troubled breast ; I was like to lose her three times. 
The doctor ordered a poultice, and other little things ; busha 
would not give her nothing at all. I tell the doctor, my wife 
have seven children and ought to sit do^vn. He say, this time 
the law don't allow that. My wife was laid up for a month 



APPENDIX, 401 

after being at the tread-mill. We get no half Fridays. They 
say they give we the hourse very day in room of Friday, but 
they never blow the sheU till sun down ; we can't get no 
hours." 

Ballantoy. — An apprentice says, " They have a good 
busha. They receive, however, no salt fish, nor flour, 
nor sugar, for their children, as before the apprenticeship. 
They get their half Fridays, and the pregnant women have a 
month before and a month after confinement." 

Tripoli. — Two apprentices state, " The apprentices on this 
property are a jobbing gang, and work about nine miles from 
home. They work from six till five, one hour being allowed 
for breakfast. Never get a half Friday. On Friday, when 
they go home, they don't draw off any earher than other days. 
No field cook allowed. Pregnant women work in the field, 
and go home and lie-in at night. Afterwards they are only 
allowed two weeks. Mothers take their children on their 
backs to the field ; no nurse, no flour or sugar allowed. Last 
year we complained to Mr. Sowley about our half Fridays. 
He fined us eight Saturdays for complaining." 

Southampton. — An apprentice states, " We turn out at half 
past five, and have half an hour for breakfast, and draw off at 
five. The cattle broke in and destroyed our ground, and left we 
nothing to eat. I showed massa my ground. He said, ' We 
must find soft stone and eat it ; we ought to make a high fence 
to keep out the cattle ; it's no use complaining to him.' If 
any women's children very sick, and mothers attend them, 
they have to pay back the time. When the people are sick he 
wants them to pay back the time, and gives them no medicine. 
If it rain ever so hard the people must work in it or pay up the 
time. All this is since they got a new master." 

parish of trelawney. 

Oxford Estate, the property of E. Barrett. — A number 
of intelligent apprentices say, '' that there is more work 
done on this estate than formerly. There used to be forty 
or fifty jobbers constantly at work, who dug all the cane 
holes ; now the cultivation is carried on by the estate's 
people only, and the crops are increasing. In crop, they work 
from four o'clock, a. m., to 10, p. m., snatching their meals as 



402 APPENDIX. 

they can ; and for this amount of extra labour for five days, 
receive six shilhngs and three-pence per week. They agree to 
this arrangement for the sake of peace, but could earn more by 
working in their own grounds or on adjoining estates. Out 
of crop, they work from six to six, or even half-past six, with 
two hours' intermission for meals. The overseers blow the 
shell when they please. They get their half Fridays. Their 
mountain grounds are from seven to nine miles distant. They 
are allowed a watchman for them, and field cooks, but have had 
no salt fish these six months. The pregnant women are 
allowed to sit down two months before delivery and a fortnight 
afterwards. The free children receive nothing from the 
estate." 

Several apprentices on Cambridge, an estate of the same pro- 
prietor, say they are similarly circumstanced, except that they 
have a bad overseer. They are never allowed more than an 
hour and ten minutes for dinner. They would not agree to 
the arrangement for their extra labour during crop, except to 
keep them quiet, for which purpose they are willing to do all 
in their power, but tlie " overseer is a man of war." They ob- 
served, *' We know we got a good massa in England, and we 
wish to do every thing to oblige him ; but if the overseer con- 
tinues to worry us none of the apprentices will remain when 
the time is up." 

Richard Barrett, one of the negroes present, has been a car- 
penter on Cambridge for twenty-eight years, and has been re- 
cently turned into the field for preferring a respectful complaint 
to his attorney against the overseer. He has given notice, in 
consequence, to be valued. These people said, although the 
free children are less attended to, they do not die more than 
before ; " God Almighty takes care of that himself, and there 
are more births than ever there were." They assured us, also, 
that their children were not brought up in idleness, and that 
they had plenty of Httle things for them to do at home or in 
their grounds. They said they heard that some of the people 
on other estates were worse off than before the apprenticeship. 
For themselves, in answer to an inquiry, they said, *' How can 
we like the old system ? We are well satisfied with the pre- 
sent, when we think when the whole come." In conclusion, they 
spontaneously expressed their thanks to their friends in Eng- 



APPENDIX. 403 

land, for the exertions they had made for them to secure the 
aboUtion, and for sending out missionaries, and teachers, and 
books. 

A gentleman acquainted with Richard Barrett, the negro 
above-mentioned, subsequently gave us an account of his release 
from apprenticeship by valuation. He had always borne a good 
character, and had been head carpenter 'for seven years, and se- 
cond carpenter for two years ; having been superseded, as head 
carpenter, by a free person. About the middle of last month, 
(February,) he was ordered into the field by the present over- 
seer, Hawes, to perform field labour, and had task-work 

set him, the same as the rest of the gang, in digging cane 
holes. Although not desirous of leaving the estate, yet, being 
unaccustomed to field labour, and unable to perform it, he 
determined to obtain his discharge. When he came to be 
valued, he stated to the magistrates that his only reason for 
seeking to obtain his release was his having been made a field 
labourer, and, therefore, that he ought to be valued as such. 
To this one of the local magistrates agreed, but the special 
justice, Pryce, and the other local magistrate, said that he 
must be valued as a carpenter. He was accordingly valued 
at 67/. 105. 

This case illustrates several important points : — First, that 
the practice of sending mechanics and domestics into the field, 
ever considered by the negroes the severest and most degrad- 
ing punishment, is still practised ; secondly, that the overseers 
sacrifice the property and interests of their absent employers, 
without scruple, to gratify their own tyrannical dispositions ; 
and, lastly, that valuations are conducted without any regard to 
justice, or even to a decent respect for the rights of the ap- 
prentices, as guaranteed to them by the Abolition Law. 

THE PARISHES OF ST. JAMES AND HANOVER. 

Salt Spring Estate. — An apprentice complains, that " after 
being allowed by the doctor to sit down two months last year 
during her pregnancy, she was ordered afterwards to pay back 
one month. She worked out all the Saturdays but two, on 
which her husband and another relative worked for her. The 
overseer refused these two days, and brought her before the 



404 APPENDIX. 

magistrate, who sent her to the workhouse for three days, and 
ordered her to repay the time. When she came out she 
worked two Saturdays, but on the third was obhged to go to her 
provision ground for victual. The negro grounds are fifteen miles 
distant from the estate ! For going to her ground for food, she 
was brought before the magistrate, and sent to the workhouse 
five times in succession, one after another. The magistrate 
will not listen to her. She is now pregnant again ; and he 
says, after her confinement she must pay back all the days she 
spent in the workhouse. She says, nursing mothers are not 
permitted to leave the field to suckle their children. When 
she and others have complained to the busha, he says he does 
not care a pin, because they are free." 

The brother of the preceding apprentice gives the following 
account of the first complaint above noticed : — "His sister was 
ordered by Mr. Finlayson to work eveiy other Saturday from 
the first of May to the first of August. The overseer refused 
to allow her husband to work for her, and when she had repaid 
all the days up to the first of August, he said she had not 
finished, and brought her before the magistrate. He com- 
plains, that if two or three of the apprentices lose five minutes 
in the morning, Mr. Finlayson stops the whole gang for two 
Saturdays." 

New Mill Estate. — Two apprentices state, " That in the 
two last crops the people have not received any thing for their 
half Fridays, and this year they are again squabbling with 
busha about them. The negro grounds are about ten miles 
from the estate. Pregnant women are allowed four weeks 
before and after delivery, and then are allowed to turn out an 
hour later in the morning. Nursing mothers are allowed an 
hour a day to go to suckle their children, one at a time.. Field 
cooks and salt fish are continued ; but if the overseer finds the 
least fault he stops their allowance for a month or two. If 
mothers take their free children to the hospital they are not 
allowed to have any medicine, and must pay back any time 
they take to nurse them. These negroes mentioned to us the 
cases referred to, in the journal, of Lucy Anne Stephen and 
Judy Evans, two old women, each mothers of eight children, 
being compelled to work in the field. They also mentioned 



APPENDIX. 405 

two other old women who have been put in the dungeon now 
these ten days past. They both of them came to this country 
three years before 1795, and one of them was then 'a 
good prime woman/ (who must now, therefore, be upwards of 
seventy,) the other a girl. The former being weak and unable 
to cut grass, was ordered to be locked up by the magistrate, 
(Pringle,) for absence from work ; the bther is unable to work 
from illness, and is also ordered to be locked up." 

Coventry Estate, the property of Robert Hibbert. — Susan 
Mackenzie, an apprentice, says, that " during therebelhon, she 
was sent for because she was a ' great Baptist woman.' They 
tried to make some men swear against her to hang her, but 
did not succeed ; and because she would not say any thing 
against Mr. Burchell, three men, with three new cats, were 
ordered to flog her. They gave her about three hundred 
lashes, and she remained in the workhouse for three months. 
On the first of August, 1824, the attorney, Mr. Grant, said 
she must go into the field. She said she was not able, and 
showed him her back ; but he said that was nothing, and for 
her refusal she was sent three times to the work-house ; they 
then allowed her to cook for the children, which is her present 
employment." 

This woman is an individual of superior intelligence for her 
station, and bears a very high character as a person of amiable 
and mild disposition, and consistent in her deportment as a 
professor of rehgion. She is almost blind from the effects of 
flogging ; the upper part of the back is covered with white 
patches, where the rete mucosum has been entirely obhterated 
by the horrid punishment described above. 

Speaking of the condition of the apprentices on Coventry, 
she said, that " the people are compelled to do task-work in the 
field, and so much is given them, that they cannot finish it, 
though they work from sun-rise till dusk, without intermission. 
Their breakfasts are cooked for them, and they eat them in the 
field without sitting down. If there is a patch left, they are 
compelled to finish it on the Saturday. The magistrate won't 
hear what they have to say. They receive no salt fish." 

Porto Bello.— An apprentice states, "The people turn out 
at half- past six, they get forty minutes for breakfast, and an 

2 N 



406 APPENDIX. 

hour for dinner, and leave the field at a quarter to six. He 
has a watch, and knows the time exactly. The people have no 
field cooks ; never received any allowance of salt fish. Their 
provision grounds are very bad land, and eight miles distant. 
He never went into the field till December, 1835, when he was 
made a predial. The special magistrate, Mr. Finlayson, will 
scarcely allow the people to speak. He went to him this 
morning, but was told he (Mr. F.) could do nothing for him ; 
he had better get a friend, and go to the Governor." 

Worcester Estate. — One woman, with ten children, six 
apprentices and four fi-ee ; another with seven children ; and a 
third with six, had withdrawn from field work before the first 
of August, 1834. After the first of August they were ordered 
to the field again, and because they did not turn out with the 
rest of the people at six o'clock, they were brought before the 
magistrate, and sent to the workhouse. One of them had 
tvvdns, and, being ordered to the field, was obliged to leave them 
in the care of their Httle brother ; he went to play, and when 
she returned she found them lying in their own filth, and eat- 
ing it. At present, the picaninny women are allowed to take 
turn in minding their children, and to have half an hour in the 
morning. The people on the estate generally turn out at six, 
and draw ofi" at half-past five, and sometimes six. They have 
had no salt fish these two months. In crop they work five 
hours extra per day, for four days in the week, for which they 
receive one and eightpence. When the people complained, 
Mr. Carnaby would not allow them to speak, but said, if they 
did not grind eight coppers of liquor a day they would be 
punished." 

Prosper Pen, property of John P. Miles, of Bristol. — 
Richard Sheppie, an apprentice, states, " That there were 
two steers that could work, two young steers, two cows, 
and one bull calf, belonging to himself and his sister. Mr. 
Grant, the attorney, said he must sell them, as he would 
not allow them to stay any longer on the estate. He com- 
pelled Richard to brand the cattle himself with the estate's 
mark. When he went for his money, he was ofi'ered £16 for 
the two steers, and £16 for all the rest, which he refused, as 
the steers were worth £18 a piece, and the cows £16 a piece. 
The steers have been working for the estate ever since. He 



APPENDIX. 407 

does not know what magistrate to apply to." — The head 
negi'oes, on many estates, are allowed to raise cattle, mules, 
and horses, for themselves ; and instances of the possession of 
this kind of property, to a small extent, by apprentices, are 
fi-equently to be met with. The above case is an example of 
the insecurity of such prosperity, which depends at all times on 
the caprice of overseers or owners. 

Great Valley, property of Robert Hibbert. — Apprentices 
complain that if they are sick no notice is taken of them. The 
doctor does whatever pleases the overseer ; and if they con- 
tinue in the hospital, they are required to repay the time, and 
when they refuse, are taken before Mr. Pringle, who sends them 
to Lucea workhouse to dance the tread-mill, and be flogged. 
A man present says his wife has been treated thus. The head 
driver says, when they are not cutting canes, they work regu- 
larly on task- work, and sometimes so much is set them, they 
are not able to finish it. They get no breakfast or dinner 
time, but go into the field at day clear, and return sometimes 
at four o'clock, sometimes at night. The people never agreed 
to work by the task, but are afraid of being taken before Mr. 
Pringle and punished. In crop time they work from six till 
eight or nine at night, giving up their half Fridays, for which 
they receive two and sixpence per week. They have never 
made this agreement, but do the work for fear of punishment. 
Three cases of jackets were brought up, which had been injured 
by the salt water ; they were opened to be sunned. The peo- 
ple said they were glad they had a massa in England to send 
them this present, but the overseer said it was not for them, 
but to be sent to Lucea and sold. 

Fairfield. — A ranger on St. Catherine's Hall says, " He 
married a woman on Fairfield, by whom he has had seven 
children, four of whom are living, one an infant in arms. She 
is compelled to come to Catherine Hall every night to lodge. 
He went to her overseer to ask him for a little place to make 
a house for her, but he would not allow him to do it. Last year 
she was pregnant, and they took her before the magistrate, 
and said she would not work. She was in the sixth month, and 
not able to do any thing but light work. She was sent to 
the workhouse, and had a chain on, and was made to dance the 
tread-mill for a week. 



408 APPENDIX. 

Bamboo Estate. — Apprentices say they have not had a half 
Friday these two years. 

Flower Hill. — Apprentices state they receive no salt-fish, 
and have no mountain ground ; are obliged to take land in the 
pastures, which is very bad, and trespassed in by the cattle. 
No notice is taken of those who are sick, and they are com- 
pelled to repay the time. The doctor does what the overseer 
says. A boiler-man complains that they do not get paid for 
their time. He went to the magistrate, who said he must be 
paid, but the busha refused, and abused him, and called him a 
bad negro for complaining about his time. The overseer, and a 
ranger, also, struck him and pushed him down. He came to 
the Bay to complain, but the magistrate refused to hear him ; 
and when he comes on the estate he W'ill not hear a word after 
the basha's story. An old woman was put in the field, for the 
first time, in May last. She has had grand-children, and refused 
going to the field. She was sent to the workhouse by Mr. Fin- 
layson, where she worked in chains in the streets. The magis- 
trate said, w^hatever the master told her to do, she must do. 
Another apprentice, a girl, was sent into the field at the same 
time, who had been taken out of the field three months before 
the rebellion, and has been in the house ever since. Another 
woman complains, that the overseer has put her children into 
the field since the first of August, who never were in the field 
before. The magistrate says, what the busha say, they must 
go by it. - 

Childermas. — The apprentices are compelled to work extra 
hours for ten pence a day during crop, though they have made 
no agreement. 

Dearne Hill. — An apprentice says, " Mr. Cocking (S.M.) 
does not allow you to speak at all, but takes and cats you." 
The people have no attention paid them when sick. 

Beverley. — An apprentice says, " About a year ago she 
was confined, and her child was sick. She took him to the 
overseer, who refused to do any thing for him. The child 
died. She was two months sitting down before she was con- 
fined, for which she was brought before the magistrate about 
two weeks after the child died. She commenced on the 13th 
August, and worked every Saturday till a few weeks ago, since 



APPENDIX. 



409 



which time she has worked on her half Fridays. She has not 
had her salt fish or allowance like the rest these two years. 

PiTFORE Pen. — Apprentices complain that task- work has 
been set them without their being consulted. They work from 
six to six, and can get no breakfast or dinner time on account 
of the amount of work that is set them. A woman, with a 
child four months old is required to do the same work as the 
rest. 

Round Hill, property of Thomas Dehany Hall. — An ap- 
prentice says he is obhged to be with the cart every Sunday. 
When Mr. Pringle comes he will not listen to the people, after 
hearing what busha says. 

Hartfield. — The apprentices are a jobbing gang, and work 
twelve miles from their houses and grounds. A pregnant 
woman from this estate complains that she has to work up to 
the time that the pains seize her, and has to find the midwife 
herself, and to repay all the time she is in the house. No time 
is allowed them to suckle their children. Mr. Finlayson tells 
them they must do whatever busha tells them ; and when she 
replied, Mr. Norcott told them they should not do so, he 
said, she had no business to mention Mr. Norcott, and sent 
her to solitary confinement for six days, where she was kept on 
short allowance, and nothing allowed for the child. If the 
child was sick, she has to pay four dollars to the doctor. 

Catherine Mount. — In the short days the overseer used 
to say the apprentices did not work the nine hours, and stop- 
ped a little of their time ; now, in the long days, they are 
scarcely ever allowed to leave work till dusk. The magistrate 
ordered them to have their proper dinner and breakfast time, 
but the overseer said they should not get it. The magistrate 
won't hear what they have to say ; the busha speaks to him first. 

Leogan, property of Sir Thomas B. Birch. — Apprentices 
complain of being compelled to remove their grounds. There 
is no mountain land belonging to the estate, but they had good 
grounds before on Amity Hall, seven miles distant ; when the 
present attorney (Lawrence Hyslop) came, he gave them 
grounds on Dearne Hill, his own property, nine miles from 
their houses, and only gave them a month's notice to remove 
their grounds. Their provisions were unripe, and of no use. 

2 N 3 



410 APPENDIX. 

They got no compensation for removing, and their new ground 
is very bad. They did not complain to the magistrate, Mr. 
Cocking, because he is as good as living upon the property, 
and will never hear what they have to say. The head constable, 
who has a watch, says, if the people lose three or four hours in 
turning out in the course of the week, the magistrate takes 
away as many of their Saturdays. The overseer, besides tak- 
ing back the time himself, by keeping them in the field later 
at night, frequently complains to the magistrates and gets their 
Saturdays. The pregnant women are allowed one month after 
delivery, but are sometimes worked till within a day or two of 
being confined. The nursing mothers turn out with the rest. 
The hot-house is locked up day and night. There is a dungeon 
on the property, with a stone arch, dark, and so confined, tbat 
damp drops upon the prisoners like dew. It was not used 
during slavery. Apprentices are put in without any orders 
from the magistrate. Emma Mackintosh was locked up for 
the night by the attorney. She was a nurse to the child of his 
concubine, and he complained that she did not prevent the 
child from crying. Margaret Samuel is the washer for the 
house. She washes for the attorney, his concubine, and for 
his daughter by another woman, and for Mr. Cocking, the 
special magistrate. When she had to wash for Mr. C. she 
complained that the clothes were too much. She was locked 
up in the dungeon by the attorney, and when she came out was 
threatened, and now is obliged to wash the clothes. A cow died 
from weakness and age, which was being used to carry sugar 
to the wharf. The head cartman, Thomas Fowler, was ordered 
by the special magistrate to pay £16 for it, or be sent to Lucea 
workhouse for three months, to dance the tread-mill three 
times a day, and receive fifty lashes going in and coming out. 
The people offered to assist him ; and all of them (about fifty) 
worked three half Fridays and three Saturdays to pay for the 
cow — being rated, carpenters at three and fourpence, and first 
gang negroes at one shilling and eight pence. Thomas Fowler 
is still working in his days, and they won't give him any ac- 
count, or tell him whether the amount is paid or not.* In crop 

* Since the first edition of this work was printed, intelligence has 
been received that Thomas Fowler died on the 29th of August last. 



APPENDIX. 411 

time, they work from 4 a.m., till 8 p.m., for five days, for 
which the trashmen and cane carriers receive five shillings per 
week. They were brought into this arrangement by being 
threatened to be worked on the " nine hours' spell." 

THE PARISH OF HANOVER. 

Statement of Sarah Nelson and Bessy Grant, from Phoe- 
nix Estate, property of Richard Quarrel. — They were sent 
here (Savanna-la-Mar Workhouse) because they were not 
able to grind sixteen coppers of liquor a day. The appren- 
tices on that estate are divided into two spells, each of which 
were ordered to grind eight coppers of liquor. They often 
worked from one o'clock, p.m., to four the next morning. 
There was only one spell of mules, who sometimes laid 
down from fatigue, and so stopped the mill. Last year the 
people received tenpence per day for their extra work, but 
this year they receive nothing. The magistrate (Hulme) 
at first said they could not be compelled to do night- work ; 
but afterwards he d — d them, and said if they did not grind 
the eight coppers, they should work all Friday, Saturday, and 
Sunday. He lives on the estate, and has all he wants from 
it. He will never listen to the apprentices, and does whatever 
busha pleases. We obtained a copy of their commitment, in 
which their ofi'ence is stated to be " combining, and resisting 
work," and " insolent and disorderly conduct." They are 
sentenced, together with a man named Williams, to hard labour 
in the penal gang, and to the tread- mill twice a day for twenty 
minutes, for the space of two calendar months. — A gentleman 
has communicated to us notes of complaints made to him at 

The document which conveys this painful intelligence also contains a 
very Ml statement of all the particulars of the transaction above alluded 
to, taken from the lips of Fowler's mother, his wife, his sister, and of one 
of the constables of the estate, named Thomas Smith. The document is 
too long for insertion here ; but it may be mentioned, that the death of 
Fowler is attributed, by the above parties, to the hard usage he experi- 
enced in consequence of the death of the steer. The affidavit states, 
that '* Thomas Fowler complained of his stomach, and weakness of the 
whole body. Before hard labour began, he was a lusty, able-bodied, 
healthy man ; but the hard work reduced him very much, brought 
down his strength, and made him very sickly : he said he felt his heart 
broken by the steer business.'' 



412 APPENDIX. 

various times, by oppressed apprentices, of which several relate 
to Phoenix Estate. On the 14th of last month, six apprentices, 
including the three above-named, made to him the statement 
of their being divided into two spells, each of which was tasked 
to grind eight coppers of cane juice a day, which compelled 
them to work continually through the greater part of the day 
and night. During this week, they state, the first spell made 
short work, and, in consequence, the mill feeders and cane 
carriers for both spells were ordered by the magistrate to 
work on two Saturdays, which they did on the 4th and 11th 
instants ; on which days they worked without breakfast or 
dinner time, and had no one to cook for them or to bring 
a drink of water. They complain that the task of eight cop- 
pers a day for each spell is too much, especially as the cattle 
and mules are not sufficient for the work. They sometimes 
lie do-svn in the mill, and keep the people waiting a long time. 
One of the complainants states, that he he ivorks day and night, 
and never goes to his house through the week. On a subsequent 
occasion, five boys stated to the same individual, that " they 
are the cattle drivers, (at the mill,) and that they drive con- 
stantly through the week, day and night, and get no rest until 
the mill stops on Friday. They get no pay. The apprentices 
charge one shilling and threepence for their half Friday. The 
attorney came and abused them all for a set of rascals, and 
complained that they worked two years, and never charged 
for their half Fridays. Some of them told him that the beasts 
would be worked to pieces by the work busha put upon them. 
He said, ' I will give you plenty of beasts.' None have come 
to this time, which is four weeks, and four cattle have since 
died.* Before he went away, the constable asked the people 
whether they agreed to go upon the same plan as last year. 
They said, for the goodness of Master Quarrel (the proprietor 
residing in England) they would give up the Friday, although 
they were not getting any salt fish." 

* Our informant, in a letter recently received, observes, •' I have 
heard that sixty head of cattle have died during this crop season at 
Glasgow. It is on this estate, as on Phoenix, if the apprentices were not 
more able to endure fatigue and privation than their cattle, they would 
die off in like manner." 



APPENDIX. 413 

This almost incredible amount of night- work is also exacted 
on Glasgow Estate. See the statement of an apprentice from 
that property, in the Jom-nal, and the following previously given 
by the same negro to the above-mentioned individual. — Cyrus 
Wallace says, " he is a boiler ; boiled sugar till past one o'clock 
on the afternoon of Sunday, the 29tli January last. The book- 
keeper told them (the boilers) that unless they finished boiling 
off the sugar left on Saturday, they and the busha will have it 
out — meaning, as Wallace thinks, that busha would get them 
punished. He has boiled sugar all the week, and never has 
time to go to his own house, hy day or night, until the end of the 
week. They work every Saturday, and sometimes finish boiling 
off at day-break on Sunday morning." Next follows an account 
of the circumstance mentioned in the Journal,, of his being 
locked up on Saturday for refusing to work when he was ill. 
He says, also, that he " had the measles last year, and was 
ordered to pay the time back that he lost by sickness, and 
that this is a common practice on the estate. Overseer puts 
them in the dark room any time. Among others, Anna 
Buchanan Stevens had sore throat and pains before Christmas, 
and Mr. Murdock, the overseer, had her confined in the dark 
room for six weeks. At the end of that time, she and another 
woman, named Sarah Dalrymple, broke out through the floor- 
ing, and went to the magistrate, Mr. Oliver, who said they 
must go back to the estate, and he would get Mr. Phelp, the 
magistrate of their district, to settle it. When Mr. Phelp 
came to the property they were taken up by the constables, 
and asked by Mr. Phelp what they had to say ? A. B. Stevens 
told him how long she had been locked up. He said he wished 
not to hear it, and sent them to the tread-miU at Savanna-la- 
Mar for about two weeks and a half. During the time they 
were locked up on the estate, the magistrate visited the pro- 
perty, but they were not brought before him. 

HANOVER AND WESTMORELAND. 

Frome Estate. — Two apprentices state, that " in crop, the 
mill is put about at four o'clock in the morning till seven 
o'clock the next morning — no breakfast time or shell-blow being 
allowed. The coppers are kept boiling through the night. A 



414 APPENDIX. 

spell of people come out of the field at seven o'clock, to relieve 
the boiling-house people. They thus get every other night to 
sleep, but must be in the field the next morning by daylight. 
They work on Friday, and sometimes on Saturday. The ap- 
prentices receive nothing for aU this extra work, and if they 
go to ask for any thing, are brought before Mr. Phelp to get 
punishment. The only men who have been paid are two of 
the boiler-men and the head cartmen. About two or three 
weeks back Mr. Phelp come, and Mr. Macfarlane, the over- 
seer, went and called two or three overseers, who valued the 
people's work, and said it was not enough. Mr. Phelp com- 
mits the whole gang to pay four Saturdays. Through the 
year, they are constantly taking away our Saturdays. When 
busha wants to hire the people, and they say they won't, 
because they know he won't pay them, he sends for the ma- 
gistrate directly and values the work, and says, 'You won't 
hire, and now I shall take your Saturdays for nothing.' We 
don't get a day to work our mountain grounds, which are six 
miles from the estate ; we are obliged to go to them on Sun- 
day. We receive no salt fish. We have had no clothes these 
two or three years, except two or three yards of canvas this 
Christmas. The busha has shot several of the people's hogs. 
If a man raise a little fowl, when they want one for dinner, 
they send for it and kiU it. Before last August, the busha 
came to the negro houses, and took away one fowl belonging 
to one of us, two of the other, and three of a third apprentice, 

who is not present. says, he went up to ask for his 

fowl, and the busha said he would not give it back, but should 
eat it for his dinner. I went to the field, and was talking 
about the fowl, when he said I was making a noise, and sent 
the constable to lock me up in the dungeon. A week after, he 
brought me before the magistrate, and said I was making a 
row in the field. He sent me for fourteen days to the work- 
house, to work in chains and dance the tread-mill. When I 
came back I had to pay four days. I had been before to the 
magistrate about the fowl, and could get no satisfaction. 
also says, he and his wife have been sent to the dun- 
geon a good many times. His wife was sent when quite big 
with child two days and nights. The prisoners are fed on 



APPENDIX. 415 

four heads of dry corn and a pint of water a day. His master 
and busha hate him because he is a Baptist." 

Grove Plain. — An apprentice says, the negroes turn out 
the same as in slavery, and work from sun to sun, getting half 
an hour for breakfast and an hour for dinner. In crop, their 
Fridays are taken away, without payment. The boiler-men 
only are paid for night-work. Their 'mountain grounds are 
eight miles fi*om the estate. No watchman is allowed ; any 
beast may go and destroy them. Their master sends out salt 
fish, but the people get none of it from month to month. 
" The fish is there, and we perishing for the want of it." No 
notice is taken of the sick, who are sometimes locked up in 
the dungeon, which is a shocking place. "The busha locks 
up plenty of people, without telhng the magistrate." 

Friendship, the estate of Lord Holland. — Apprentices 
make the following statements : — " In the first ofi^set, (August 
1st, 1834,) the agreement was that we were to receive our 
salt fish. Some have got none from that day to this. We 
get none unless we do extra work beyond what the law obliges 
us, as watching at night by turns. Those old women that 
have been serving a long time, and are not able to keep spell 
in crop, get not a grain of salt fish from one year's end to the 
other. The people turn out to work the very same as during 
slavery. They get their half hours for breakfast, and one hour 
and a half for dinner, and never draw ofi" at night till a quarter 
past six. On Friday we draw off at eleven, and get no break- 
fast that morning. In crop time, one spell goes in at four 
o'clock on Monday morning, and keeps there till six o'clock 
at night, when another spell comes in, and stays tiU six the 
next night — working a day and a night, without dinner or 
breakfast time. For this they receive two bitts a day, (fifteen 
pence.) No agreement was made. We have to give up aU 
our half Fridays in crop, and get no pay and no time for them. 
Some women refused to work in this way, viz., Beatrice 
Holland, Kitty Jones, Dolly Ferguson, Christian Williams, 
and Ruth Allen. They were brought before the magistrate 
for disobedience of orders ; he would not allow them to speak, 
but sent them to the tread-mill for fifteen days. One of them 
complains of pains in her joints to this day. This is two years 



416 APPENDIX. 

ago, and since then we can't refuse. Another apprentice, 
George Blake, when he was ordered to go to watch, in the 
first year of the apprenticeship, said he would go if they would 
pay him. They said he should do it without, as there was a 
law for it. He said, ' We heard we should never have to do 
any thing in our extra time without being paid for it.' He 
was put in the dungeon four days and nights, when the magis- 
trate came and committed him to the workhouse for fourteen 
days, to work in chains and collar. He had to pay the time 
back in his half Fridays and Saturdays. His wife, Catherine 
Blake, was at that time employed in the house as a washer, 
but on account of her husband's offence she was sent into the 
field, where she remains from that day to this. She also gets 
no salt fish. About five months ago she was kept in the 
bilboes, day and night, for four weeks, without any magis- 
trate's order. Even when she went to work she had to carry 
the shackle. The punishment was for objecting to go to the 
field when she w^as a domestic. She is still lame from the 
effects of the bilboes. In the time of our last overseer, we 
could hardly eat our own bread, we were getting so uneasy. 
If the new overseer goes on well we shall be comfortable ; for 
as for the magistrate of the parish, we shall get no sort of 
satisfaction from him. As soon as the overseer makes his 
complaint, he makes out the writing of punishment. Missis 
(Lady Holland) has been kind to we : we know that, whether 
we get the gifts that she sends or not ; and we should wish 
to remain on the estate as long as we live. There was at one 
time a talk of a school on the estate, but lately we hear nothing 
about it. We should be thankful to get a lesson ourselves as 
well as our children." 

Green Island Pen. — The busha, Benjamin Capon, " is 
constantly in the habit of striking, collaring, and kicking the 
apprentices — men, women, and children. They never com- 
plain to the magistrate, because they get no right. The ma- 
gistrate takes away their days whenever the busha wants them. 
The apprentices have had no salt fish for three or four months. 
Their grounds are destroyed by cattle, as no watchman is 
allowed for them. There is no hospital on the estate. If 
the people are sick, their days are taken away to pay back the 



APPENDIX. 417 

time. They turn out to work at daylight, and never draw off 
till seven o'clock. Their half Fridays have been taken away 
since Christmas, without payment. Yesterday the busha 
ordered a girl to be switched by the constable, and locked up 
at night. Her mother, Oriana Webster, just said, ' Hi ! this 
picaninny work so hard from morning to night — no breakfast, 
no dinner time ; and you go lock her up :' then he collared 
her, and ordered her to be fastened in the dungeon." 

Petersfield Estate, Property of Francis L. Beckford, 
London. — "The people turn out from six a.m. till seven p.m., 
and get half an hour for breakfast, and an hour for dinner. In 
crop time, they have to keep spell through the night, for which 
they are paid as on Friendship Estate. Sometimes their Fridays 
are taken away, without payment, and they are always made to 
work more than half the day. Their provision grounds are 
seven miles off, and trespassed on by the cattle, as there is no 
fence. No attention is paid to the sick. The flogging is the 
only thing that makes it different from before. The busha tries 
every thing to get we punished. The magistrate won't allow 
you to speak for your right." 

Roaring River, Edward B. Kemble, Proprietor. — The ap- 
prentices, out of crop, w^ork about the same hours as on Pe- 
tersfield ; and in crop, they work from four a. m. to seven p. m. 
In crop, they get no half Fridays, and receive only two bitts for 
all their extra time during the week. They are compelled to 
work by the task, though they have made no agreement to do 
so. When the canes are dry, and will not produce the tasked 
number of coppers of juice, they have to work in the night to 
make it up. Out of crop, they are not allowed to leave the 
field on Friday till three or four o'clock in the afternoon. The 
busha sometimes says they turn out late in the morning, and 
gets four Saturdays taken away from them. Mr. Oliver won't 
hear what the people have to say. " The busha tell we, many 
way to choke dog without hanging him : he would work we law 
fashion, and he would work we field fashion." The people had 
no salt fish last year, and have only had it three times since 
Christmas. Sometimes the field cooks are taken away, and the 
people remain without food till night. When apprentices go to 
the tread-mill they are obliged to work out the time. Mothers 
2 o 



418 APPENDIX. 

have to repay the time when their free children are sick, or if 
they take a day to hury them. — Catherine Lewis and three 
other women were handcuffed and sent to dance the tread-mill 
for sixteen days, because they asked for a httle sugar and rum, 
as payment for their breakfast and dinner time during crop. 

Shrewsbury. — " Busha frequently locks the people up in 
the dungeon, even women with child. They are sometimes 
kept two or three days ; sometimes he gives them a little com, 
sometimes nothing. Sometimes he applies to magistrate ; at 
others, punishes without applying to magistrate. Magistrate 
never comes on the property, except when busha writes him a 
letter ; and then, right or wrong, he gives the busha satisfac- 
tion, and won't allow the people leave to speak. Out of crop, 
the apprentices are not allowed to draw off till two o'clock in 
the afternoon. In crop, their half Fridays are taken away, 
without payment. They are tasked to grind so many coppers 
of liquor ; and if the canes don't yield, they have to work till 
daylight. They have only tenpence for their night- work. For 
weeks before Christmas the busha ordered the people to pay a 
Saturday, because he said they did not turn out early in the 
morning. They refused, because Saturday was their own day. 
He sent for Mr. Phelp and Mr. Oliver, who came the noonday 
after with the police. William Squarry and two other young 
men, and five of the principal women, were picked out, and the 
men catted, and the women sent to the tread-mill for ten days. 
The police gave William Squarry thirty-nine lashes on his bare 
back in the field. He was a constable, and was flogged as an 
example to the rest." 

Cornwall, Property of Charles Chatfield and William 
Cruttenden. — *' When Mr. Mulgrave was here he told we no 
more slavery, but apprenticeship ; and that we were to get an 
hour for breakfast, and two for dinner. We go on pretty well 
that year, but after we only get half an hour for breakfast, and 
one hour and half for dinner. In crop time we get no half 
Friday, nor any day or pay for it. One spell goes in on Mon- 
day, at four o'clock in the morning, and works till nine at 
night. The next morning the second spell does the same, and 
the first goes to the field. One spell thus works three long 
days and two short ones every week ; and the other, two long 
and three short. The first gets two and sixpence a week ; the 



APPENDIX. 



419 



last, one and eig-htpence. No agreement was ever made. 
Mr. Oliver says, we ought to do what master bids. After 
crop, last year, he wanted to take our half Fridays, and give 
us the time on Wednesday. We refused, because our mountain 
grounds are seven miles off, and we could not go and come 
back on the Wednesday. For this, two men were flogged by 
Mr. Oliver, and another sent to the workhouse, as an example 
to the rest. Apprentices sent to the workhouse have to pay 
back the time. ' The master sends out two puncheons of oat- 
meal for the children ! they take it to feed hog, and say the 
free children no use to massa. If you have any eggs, the over- 
seer will give you a little oatmeal in exchange.' " 

Dean's Valley Dry Works.—" We have not had a single 
half Friday since the new year came in. One of the appren- 
tices, James Grinfield, went to Mr. M'Neel, the attorney, and 
asked if he had stopped the half Friday. He came down to 
the property the next day, and began to quarrel and make 
such a racket, and told the overseer we were not to have it. 
Lord Mulgrave told us we should get one hour for breakfast 
and two for dinner, but now we get only half an hour and an 
hour. We have had no salt fish from the middle of last year 
till a fortnight ago ; though we have been obliged to watch 
the cattle pen at night, without payment. If we leave work 
in the rain, they take away a Saturday to pay for it. In crop 
time, the people work in two spells, (see Cornwall ;) the first 
gets twenty pence, and the other fifteen pence, for all extra 
time through the week. No agreement was ever made to 
work in this way. ' We give up all our time to make things 
easy, because we have no one to complain to. The only good 
thing is, that they can't lay we down and flog we on the estate.' 
The estate's cattle trespass in our provision ground. Young 
picaninny mothers get no oatmeal or sugar, and are obliged to 
come out to work at daylight with the rest. The people are 
sometimes kept in the field -till bhnd dark. James Grinfield 
was sent to the tread-mill for ten days, two years ago, for 
having prayers in his house. Mr. Oliver said he had no right 
to do it." 

Font A BELLE, George Kirlew, Receiver. — " On August 1st, 
the former attorney, Mr, G. CoUo, agreed with the people to work 



420 APPENDIX. 

one Friday and take another. When Mr. Shilieto came, before 
Christmas he took away one Friday entb'ely. When we say 
it is a hard case, he takes us to the magistrate to dance the 
tread-mill for fomleen days. Mr. Phelp won't hear a word ; 
he says, ' they brought him to Jamaica to put it quiet, and he 
shall put it quiet.' When he comes, if the overseer tells him 
we have not worked enough in the field, he takes away three 
or four Saturdays. Our mountain grounds are seven miles oiF, 
and are sometimes trespassed in. We go to work at sunrise, 
and have half an hour for breakfast and an hour for dinner, and 
never draw off till candle-light in the great house. In crop, 
the people work in two spells, and are tasked to grind seven 
coppers of liquor a day. If the canes are dry it can't be done. 
Nothing is ever paid except to the boiler-man. The busha 
puts the apprentices in the dungeon as he likes, without meat 
or drink, except sometimes he gives them two heads of corn 
and a pint of water. If the picaninny women don't turn out 
with the rest, they are locked up. ' We are worse off than 
before, only just the flogging.' " 

Smithfield. — Ann Campbell is a house servant. '' She 
has no allowance of food, no provision ground, no salt fish. 
She has only one Saturday in two weeks. She has no support 
but what she receives from her Christian family, (fellow- ap- 
prentices, who axe members of the same church.) She has no 
relation. She lost one of her legs by disease some years ago, 
and was obliged to get the carpenter to make her a wooden 
one, but has nothing to pay him. Her master said last w^eek 
that a lavf came in to bring back flogging, and he should put a 
hoe in her hand and turn her into the field. All the domestics 
are treated in the same way." 

Content Pen, James Rankin, master. — " Before the law 
came in, nine or ten of us were expected to split one thousand 
shingles a day. About three months ago, master sent six of 
us to work, and said we must split one thousand a day. We 
could not do it, though we worked all day without taking 
fifteen minutes for our meals. He took us before Mr. Kelly, 
who said we must do it. Master took five of us down to the 
magistrate, and got us catted, forty stripes each, and ordered 
us to make up the thousand a day. We made it up in our 



APPENDIX. 421 

own time for five days ; he then said it was six days, though 
he knew in his conscience it was only five. He then sent for 
the magistrate, who ordered us to make up seven thousand. 
The women who are employed to scrape ginger, have to scrape 
thirty pounds a day out of forty pounds. Their friends are 
obliged to assist them through part of the night. Two weeks 
ago, the task was so great that eight women were obliged to 
take Sunday to finish it. The apprentices never agreed to 
work task-work. When Mr. James Rankin came to the pro- 
perty, after his father's death, he told the people they were too 
rich and had too much time. He said they were too religious, 
and he should see if he could not make them work their 
grounds on Sunday. He used to make them come down to 
the Court House on Saturday, whether he had any complaint 
against them or not. When he saw one of them coming down 
from the ground on Sunday, where she had been to look for a 
little food, he laughed, and said, * What, you can work now on 
Sunday?'" 

Prospect Estate, Property of B. Bernard and Walter 
Stirling. — This is under the same attorney as Fontabelle. 
The people perform a similar amount of extra labour in crop, 
for scarcely any remuneration ; night- work and task-work, by 
compulsion, without any agreement ; a heart- sickening story, 
corresponding in all its details with the preceding. Invalid 
women get no salt fish, even those that can make thmeselves 
useful. An apprentice states, the former attorney, Collo, used 
to treat the people kindly; but now, if it were known that 
we were here, some of the people would come on crutches to 
teU their story to us. 

THE PARISH OF CLARENDON. 

Green Park. — " We get no salt fish, and are compelled to 
watch at night, without any payment. This is since Mr. 
Chamberlaine left. They say, it is not Mr. C.'s time now. 
Since this magistrate came we live very unhappy; massa 
knows if we complain we shan't get our right ; that makes him 
take away our time and do every thing." 

York Pen. — Statement of Elizabeth Francis. (See our ac- 
count of her valuation, page 250.) " Before the first of 
August, I was never in the field, but belonged to Mr. Scott's 

2 o 3 



422 APPENDIX. 

mother, who gave me ten shillings a week wages. Afterwards, 
Mr. Scott used to send me to Kingston to buy cloth, which I 
used to sell, and carry him the money. I was very sickly with 
a complaint in my stomach and my side. Mr. Scott sent me 
into the field the year before last. I was very often ill, some- 
times for two or three months at a time. The doctor was a 
black man from Parnassus Estate ; we never had a white doctor. 
Because I was so sickly, and not able to do field work, I 
wanted to buy myself; and my husband, who is a free man, 
asked my master what he would part with me for. He ordered 
the constable to tm-n him off the property. He sent for Dr. 
Ritchie to examine me, who said I was not so bad. When I 
spoke to the magistrate on the property, he would not hear a 
word I had to say, but said, ' Shut your mouth ; if you are 
impudent to your master, I shall send you to the workhouse 
and have you catted ! ' When I came to be valued to-day, they 
said I was a field negi'o, and valued me so high." 

Sheckles Pasture. — This property has been recently sold, 
and its late proprietor, the Hon. Wihiam Rowe, President of 
the Council, has ordered all the people to remove to his other 
property, in Manchester, about thirty miles distant. One of 
them Thomas Gale, says, " He is li\ing mth a free woman, 
by whom he has five children. He would rather die than re- 
move. He will not, cannot go and leave them. Many of the 
people have proposed to be valued. Their master says they 
must come into Manchester to be valued. The magistrate 
there is his cousin. 

Belle Plain. — An apprentice states, " that he is employed 
chipping logwood. In the old time, four cwt. a day was con- 
sidered straining work ; now then- master demands four cwt, 
and a half. They were unable to do it, though they gave up 
their breakfast time. Their wives, who belong to another 
property, offered to assist them to make it up in their own 
time, but they said we would rather go to the magistrate, for 
if we do it once, we shall have to do it again. He told the 
constable it is not worth while to impose upon us ; we are not 
able to do it. For this, he was charged with impudence, and 
sent by the magistrate to the tread-mill for five days, and or- 
dered to pay back the time. Pie came home last Sunday, and 



APPENDIX. 423 

was so sick that lie was unable to work aU the week. Yester- 
day the master charged the constable to bring him to the 
Magistrates' Court to-day. He was not, however, called up, 
for the constable told him he might go home, as the magis- 
trate would visit the property on Tuesday."* Another ap- 
prentice from Belle Plain is a boy, about sixteen or seventeen. 
Four years ago he met with a serious accident. The doctor 
told his master if the boy Hved he would never be of any use 
to him. His father, also an apprentice, took him home, and 
was at the expense of his medical treatment, and has supported 
him entirely till now. After having so long neglected him, his 
master, about two months ago, compelled him to turn out to 
work. He is evidently unfit for labour. His knee is much 
enlarged : he has not the proper use of his arm ; and walks as 
if his spine was seriously injm'ed. Another apprentice from 
Belle Plain says, that he is a domestic, and hires himself out, 
paying five macs, (five shillings sterhng) a week. He wanted 
to buy himself, and then his master told him he had been 
rated as a field negro. Another, from the same propertv', 
complains of being compelled to chip four cwt. of logwood a 
day, which is the task of the old time. They never made any 
agreement to do it ; and though they turn out at sunrise, and 
work till four o'clock, without breakfast or dinner time, they 
cannot do it. Another is the mother of nine children ; one 
free, and eight on the estate, most of whom are grown up. 
She has sat down for several years, but since Christmas has 
been ordered into the field, and is compelled to turn out with 
the rest. 

WooDsiDE Plain. — Apprentices complain that they turn out 
at six, A. M., have an hour for breakfast, and do not draw ofi" 
tiU five, or, on Friday, till one or two in the afternoon. One 
of them has nine children, of whom four are free, whom she 
has to support. Since she had the sixth child she was not ex- 
pected to do much, but now she must turn out with the rest. 
She was taken before Dawson, and though she showed him 
one of her children, which had the measles, he said it did not 

* 'We have reason to believe that this and other cases on similar 
occasions, were deferred in consequence of our being present at the 
Courts. 



424 APPENDIX. 

signify, she must turn out with the rest. The apprentices are 
allowed no field cook, no salt fish. Their provision ground has 
no fence nor watchman, and is destroyed by the cattle. 

Belmont. — ^Thomas Thomas is a pen-keeper. " His master 
brought him before Mr. Gordon, at Chapelton, and charged 
him with insolence, disobedience, and refusing to work on 
Sunday. When he wanted to speak, the magistrate told him 
to shut his mouth, and sent him to the tread-mill for ten days. 
Before that, he never got his Saturdays or Sundays, or any 
payment, or time in lieu of them ; since then, he has refused to 
work on Sunday, and gets about half Saturday. When he 
came out of the workhouse, his legs were much injured. He 
was kept on for an hour at a time. The mill used sometimes 
to take the skin ofi" the belly of the people. When they could 
not tread it, (and when hanging by their wrists,) the driver 
used to pull them from the mill by their legs, and throw them 
against it. The women had their clothes tied, and were 
served in the same way."* Other negroes from Belmont in- 
formed us they had been sent to the tread- mill, " where the 
driver beat them on the soles of the feet with a bamboo." 

THE PARISH OF ST. THOMAS IN THE EAST. 

Hector's River. — An apprentice states, that " she has 
seven children ; four apprentices and three free, and that she 
is compelled to work in the first gang, though she is old and 
infirm. Her youngest child, about two years old, has got the 
yaws. The overseer made her take it to the yaws-house, and 
there leave it. She is allowed to turn out an hour later than 
the rest to attend it, but does not see it through the day, ex- 
cept at dinner time. The people at Hector's River are worse 
ofi" than any. Just after the first of August, they got their 
proper meal-times, but it was soon altered. They have never 
had their half Fridays." Another apprentice on Hector's 
River has chronic rheumatism to such an extent, that her joints 
are indurated and enlarged. She complains of being compelled 

* Although we have no reason to doubt the truth of this statement, it 
is right to observe, that it rests on the authority of our informant alone, 
and we had not so full an opportunity, as in most other cases, of ascer- 
taining his general character for veracity. 



APPENDIX- 425 

to do work that she is not fit for. Four apprentices from the 
same estate say, " we turn out at sunrise, and draw off for din- 
ner from eleven to one, and then work till dusk. Our houses are 
so far off, that at dinner time we often have to return when 
the shell-blows, with a hungry belly. Sometimes, when sick, 
we are locked up in the dark room, and fed with three ears of 
dry corn, and one pint of water. The hospital is kept locked 
on Saturday and Sunday. When the magistrate comes upon 
the property, the constables are afraid to speak the truth. 
Since the busha came all the best of the slaves died." There 
was a young man, a domestic, who had the charge of a sick 
horse which died ; the busha took a spite against him, and 
when he fell sick, would take no care of him, nor allow him to 
go into the hospital. He died in the cane paths. "When 
any body dies belonging to you, if you beg the busha to give 
you the four o'clock, he won't listen to you, but work you till 
dark, and you are obliged to bury the dead when you cannot 
see your hand." The busha's table is sometimes supplied with 
provisions from the negro grounds. One woman complained 
to the magistrate, who said the young man who fetched the 
provisions from the grounds must pay for them ; but he said 
he did it by the busha's order, and she got no satisfaction. 
Another apprentice says, that her daughter is in the great house. 
Sometime ago she broke a glass goblet. Her mother procured 
two from Kingston to pay for it, but the busha deprived the 
child of her allowance and days for a month ; and because the 
magistrate of the district would not punish her further, he sent 
for Mr. Willis, who sent her to the tread-miU. Not long ago 
he threatened to horsewhip her, on which she ran away. The 
magistrate sentenced her to be locked up for five days and 
nights. James Purton, another apprentice on Hector's River, 
states, " In the first year after August, the busha sent and took 
away eight fowls from me, and said I had nothing to do but 
raising fowls. He put them in his own fowl house. About 
the same time I caught two fish one Sunday night at the rock, 
having nothing to eat. The busha came to the rock and took 
away one of the fish, and cut it in two, and took it to the great 
house to cook. I asked him if he was going to pay me for it ; 
he said he ought to punish me well instead of paying me for it- 



426 APPENDIX. 

After he came upon the property, about seven years ago, I was 
a shepherd, and he used to send me to punish at dinner time, 
at night, and on the Sunday, if any of the sheep died. If he 
want one to kill, and I tell him none properly fat, he punished 
me for not making them well fat. I had more than I could do 
— watching goats, sheep, and cattle, and cutting sticks to mend 
fences. My arm began to swell, and he would not take me 
into the hospital ; and through his neglect I came to this ail- 
ment. About five weeks ago, my leg began to swell. I went to 
him, but he would not take me into the hospital. I then went 
to the white doctor, who said I must have a few days' rest. I 
Was in the hospital for a week. He said I must make rope to 
pay for the time. Through the head man's goodness I 
escaped. He only made me work regular time, and passed 
the word for me as if I had done it." — The appearance of this 
negro was deplorable. His arm was about three times the or- 
dinary size, and very much ulcerated. His leg was also very 
large, and apparently dropsical. Another infirm woman com- 
plains, " that she is locked up in the black hole a week at a time, 
and only let out at shell-blow. She is afraid to complain 
to the magistrate. The manager won't attend to the doctor's 
orders, and the weak are forced into the field. Their provision 
grounds are distant, and their provisions are often stolen." 
Another negro says, ''that the busha sends a man to the 
grounds to dig provisions for himself. Louisa Burton, a very 
infirm dropsical woman, who is quite unfit for labour, has to 
pick cotton, or she would get no salt fish. Four apprentices 
on the estate died last week." 

Elmwood. — Apprentices from this estate complain, " that 
they never get their half Fridays. They turn out at six o'clock, 
and turn in from eleven till two, and then draw ofi" at sunset. 
They get their salt fish, but never made any agreement, nor 
were ever asked about giving up their time. Mr. Dawson put 
down whatever busha wished. He would not allow them to 
speak, and gave orders to kill all their hogs. Mr. Chamber- 
laine gave the people right. Mr. Hendy, the overseer, ordered 
the gate to be chained, and the magistrate not to be allowed to 
go in. He went to Portland the day that he knew the magis- 
trate would come ; but the book-keeper, his son, saw Chamber- 



APPENDIX. 427 

laine coming, and ordered a crooked man by the gate to put 
the chain on. Some of the apprentices cried out, ' Why don't 
you open the gate to the magistrate ? ' Then he opened it, and 
for this the book-keeper ordered him to take a hoe and work 
in the field. When the magistrate comes they cannot leave the 
field to go to complain to him. When apprentices are in the 
hospital the door is kept locked, and their own brothers are not 
allowed to go to see them." 

Hayning. — Two apprentices from this estate say, that their 
master, Jasper Cargill, is anxious for them to have what is 
right. They work from sunrise till ten, and from one till six 
o'clock. Their master scolds the overseer when he does not 
give them their time. They do not, however, get their half 
Fridays. 

Mulatto River. — Beckford Ross "belongs to Belle Castle, 
but works on Mulatto River, nine miles distant. They turn out 
before sunrise and work till ten ; go to work again at one, and 
work till quite dark. They have no half Fridays, and have to 
return to their homes after dark on that day — no time being 
allowed them for their distance. Mr. Chamberlaine said they 
were to have their Fridays, but Mr. Ross said he would not 
let them. They have had no salt fish this five months." 

WiLLiAMSPiELD. — " After the first of August the appren- 
tices were allowed three hours for breakfast and dinner; now 
they work from six till six, and are allowed only from ten to 
twelve for both meals. Their provision grounds have no watch- 
man, and their provisions are stolen. Their attorney, who lives 
at Kingston, is good to them, but the overseer compels them 
to watch the curing house and cattle pen, without any allow- 
ance. Their turns come round every five nights. One woman 
complains that she is not allowed to see the child to give him 
suck, except at shell-blow and at night. Mr. Cockburn, the 
attorney, said she was to have time, but when he was gone the 
busha would not sufi*er it." 

Happy Grove. — " The apprentices have to dig six baskets 
of arrow-root a day, although they made no agreement to 
work task-work. Their Saturdays are often lost in making 
up the deficiency, as they sometimes can't dig two baskets a 
day ; though on a good bearing piece, they can sometimes 
finish six baskets by four o'clock." 



428 APPENDIX. 

The apprentices from various estates in the district say, 
" they are more comfortable in their minds since Mr. Cham- 
berlaine came. He hears what they have to say, and does 
them justice." 

Wheelersfield Estate.—" The apprentices turn out at day- 
dawn, (five o'clock at this season ;) half an hour is allow^ed for 
breakfast, and sn hour and a half for dinner, and they leave off 
work at dark, except that this week they have been drawn off 
just at sundown, about half an hour before dark. Soon 
after the first of August, the people who had been to hear Lord 
Mulgrave explain the law, began to complain about the time ; 
but they got on satisfaction, and now they never dispute about 
it, as they find it the best to let busha have his own way, and 
they try to be satisfied. The busha locks the people up for 
trifling faults. The magistrate takes no notice of it, but goes by 
whatever the overseer says. They never get their half Friday." 

Amity Hall. — The apprentices say they are treated well by 
the overseer. They work the same number of hours as on 
Wheelersfield. When the master and mistress were here, they 
used to get their half Fridays, and for some time afterwards, 
but they have since been taken from them. 

Dunckingfield. — The hours at work are the same as at 
Wheelersfield. The people have never had their half Fridays. 
No agreement was made to give their time in exchange for the 
salt fish. Some of their Saturdays have been taken away from 
them for not turning out earlier than six o'clock. The women 
with six children are made to work in the field. Their provi- 
sion grounds are so destroyed by the cattle, that they have 
thrown them up, and depend now upon a little place which 
they have fenced off about their houses. The overseer puts 
people in the dark hole frequently without sending for the ma- 
gistrate. No attention is paid to the free children. 

Holland Estate. — ^They work the same hours per day as 
at Wheelersfield. They got their half Fridays for about two 
months at first, but have never had them since. They never 
made any agreement to give up their extra time. The magis- 
trate frequently takes away their Saturdays, and, therefore, 
though they have good grounds they are badly off. They are 
often obliged to go to their grounds on Sunday. Mr. Daughtrey 



APPENDIX. 429 

and Mr. Blake used to hear what the people had to say, 
but Mr. Willis goes by what the overseer says, and will not 
allow any to speak. George Walters, a tradesman, has been 
sent into the field to dig cane holes. 



SECTION V. . 

James Williams's Case. — His statement to us on the oc- 
casion alluded to in our jom-nal, is as follows : — "My master 
has an old grudge against me. I have been flogged seven 
times since the new law came in. He complained to Dr. 
Palmer against me for insolence, but Dr. P. gave me the right. 
He complained frequently to Captain Connor, who also gave 
me the right, and never punished me. Massa said, ' Thank 
God, Dr. Thompson is come, and we have got a magistrate 
who will see justice done,' He bear false witness against me, 
and said, that I advise John Lawrence not to be a constable, 
because he was so young. I never said any thing of the kind 
to J. L. Dr. Thompson order me thirty-nine lashes. Finding 
him, and afterwards Mr. Rawhnson, so severe upon me, I went 
away to the King's House. I was away seven weeks, but I 
did not see Lord Sligo because he was up at Highgate. When 
I returned, I was put in the cage at the police-station for a day 
and a night. I was then, by order of Mr. Rawhnson, confined 
for ten day in the dungeon on the property ; afterwards sent 
to St. Ann's Workhouse, where I received fifteen lashes, and 
danced the tread-mill every morning and evening for nine 
days. I worked in chains on the road. I bruised my shin 
(on the tread-mill) the first day, but on the second day I caught 
the step. Many people were sadly cut. You could not see 
any thing on the mill but blood. The prisoners on the mill, 
men and women, were catted most miserably. When I came 
out of the workhouse, I was put in the cell for four days and 
nights, and ordered to pay fifty days to the property. This 
was a year ago last September. I was afterwards ordered 
fifteen lashes again, for not turning the horses into their right 
pasture, I had so many difi*erent kinds of work to do that I 
neglected it. My master met me and held his stick over my 
head, and threatened to strike me, three times. I said, it was 

2p 



430 APPENDIX. 

not an earthly man that made the world, but that the Man that 
made the world would come again. For this I was charged 
with insolence, and sent to the house of correction to dance the 
tread-mill for seven days, and receive twenty lashes. When I 
came out, my massa sent me to climb bread-nut tree, and cut 
bread- nut. I told him I am not able, my stomach ill, you flog 
me so severely since the new law came in. He said, if I did 
not make an end of him, he would make an end of me. I set 
off to Sir Lionel Smith, but was taken up by an overseer on 
my way, and sent to Rodney Hall on Saturday, and kept there 
till Thursday ; a constable fetched me, and I reached home on 
Friday late. I came before the magistrate, who ordered me 
to receive twenty-five lashes, and to be sent to St. Ann's 
Workhouse for a fortnight to dance the tread-mill . My master 
says, he will bet £1000 he will make an end of me. He 
threatens me every day for my life, and I don't know how soon 
he may kill me. What make me so much afraid of is, that he 
did kUl a man ; he got him ordered a severe flogging, and, 
because the constable did not flog him enough, he ordered the 
policeman to take the whip. The man coughed blood. He 
went afterwards to Brown's Town to complain to Captain 
Dillon, and died in the town." 

James Williams also represented himself as being destitute 
of food, in consequence of the cattle having trespassed in his 
ground while at the tread- mill, and from his having to pay so 
many days to the estate. We saw several of the most inteUi- 
gent and respectable negroes from the same estate, who con- 
firmed his statements, assured us that his veracity might be 
relied on, and that he was as he represented, in a state of starv- 
ation. The money was subsequently advanced to him to pur- 
chase his term of apprenticeship, when he was valued for up- 
wards of £46, though he had only seventeen months to serve 
till he became free. The " Narrative of Events," contains a 
much more detailed account, though the reader, who will com- 
pare the above statement made to us in Jamaica, with the 
" Narrative," dictated to a third party in England, will find 
them perfectly consistent. The " Narrative" has been pub- 
lished at length in the Jamaica papers, and has excited abusive 
and angry comments, but not one of its facts has yet been dis- 



APPENDIX. 431 

proved. His master, G. W. Senior, has published a letter on 
the subject, which contains the strongest confirmation of the 
truth of the " Narrative." He admits many of the details, 
and does not den3f the truth of a single one of James Williams's 
statements ; contenting himself merely with vilifying his cha- 
racter. The sum at which he was valued is a sufficient answer 
to these calumnies. It was the price n6t only of a capable and 
industrious, but of an honest and orderly apprentice. On the 
other hand, the Baptist minister of Brown's Town, in a letter, 
dated August 8th, 1837, has furnished us with the most con- 
vincing proofs of the truth of the " Narrative." He observes : 
" I have carefully read the " Narrative" as given in The Patriot, 
and though not an eye witness of what he (James Williams) 
narrates, / had heard from others most of the particulars, none 
of which had he at all exaggerated or misrepresented.'^ He also 
states, that he read the " Narrative" to three fellow- appren- 
tices of James, of whom he says : "In these three men I can 
place the strongest confidence. They declare that James Wil- 
liams's ' Narrative' is true. In reading it to them^ the only 
error they could discover was, that Thomas Brown Lawrence 
(called in the ' Narrative' Thomas Brown) was not one of the 
three flogged hy the police. He ivas flogged by the constable of 
the property.'' 

But we have been furnished, since the first edition of this work 
was issued, with the most decisive confirmation of the fidelity 
of the " Narrative" that could possibly have been afforded. '■ 

At the time the tract was first put into circulation, a copy 
was transmitted to the Colonial Office ; and was deemed of 
such importance as to require a solemn investigation. It was 
accordingly sent out to the Governor, who appointed a com- 
mission of inquiry, consisting of a special magistrate and a 
local justice, who both appear to have most faithfully and effi- 
ciently performed the duty assigned to them. At the close of 
their labours they handed in to the Governor the following Re- 
port :— 

Falmouth, Oct. 21, 1837. 

TO HIS EXCELLENCY SIR LIONEL SMITH, &C., &C. 

" May it please your Excellency, 

*' The commissioners, in the prosecution of the inquiry which 



432 APPENDIX. 

your Excellency was pleased to intrust to them, having taken 
the fullest evidence they could obtain upon the several subjects 
which the investigation was designed to embrace, have now 
the honour to transmit, for your Excellency's information, an 
authentic copy of their entire proceedings. 

" In reporting upon the general results of this extended in- 
quiry, it has become the duty of the commissioners to state, 
that the allegations of James Wilhams's ' Narrative' have re- 
ceived few and inconsiderable contradictions, whilst every ma- 
terial fact has been supported and corroborated by an almost 
unbroken chain of convincing testimony. 

" Such being the conclusion of the commiissioners with re- 
spect to the ' Nan-ative,' it can scarcely be necessary to add, 
that the Abolition Law has not been properly administered in 
some parts of the parish of St. Ann's ; that the house of cor- 
rection of that parish was, until recently, a place of licentious- 
ness and cruelty; and that the tread-mill has been, from the 
time of its erection, and still is, an instrument rather of torture 
than of just and salutary punishm.ent. 

" Upon these topics the commissioners have thought it right 
to report specifically, but with reference to others of no less in- 
terest, they leave the evidence to speak for itself; persuaded 
that the whole detail will be found important enough to com- 
mand your Excellency's immediate attention. 

" GEORGE GORDON, J. P., St. James's. 
J. DAUGHTREY, S. M." 

From private sources we learn that nearly two hundred 
witnesses were examined by the commissioners on this occasion, 
and that not only were all the revolting details of the " Narra- 
tive" confirmed, but that many others, of even a more atrocious 
character, were brought to hght. It only remains, then, to 
ask, whether the flagrant perversion of the law by magistrates 
who are the table companions of the planters, and whether the 
present horrible workhouse discipline of Jamaica, are to be 
permitted to continue ? Can any one read " James Williams's 
Narrative," and persuade himself that the negroes could have 
been liable to greater oppression, or endured a greater amount 
of misery, when they were slaves in name as well as in fact } 



APPENDIX. 433 

SECTION VI. 

Arcadia Estate. — In 1833 the proprietor of Arcadia pub- 
lished a pamphlet vindicating himself, as a Christian slave 
owner, from the charges brought against him in the Anti- 
slavery Reporter. (No. 104.) When we contrast his senti- 
ments with the past history and present state of Arcadia, we 
cannot but regard his experience as one of the most unhappy- 
examples of the consequences resulting from the dereliction 
of the plain principles of Christian duty, for a course of expe- 
diency and compromise. Of all the partners in colonial iniquity, 
none are more guilty than the professedly liberal, and especially 
the Christian proprietors, resident in England; and it is in 
discharge of a most painful duty that we presume to place 
them, in the person of an eminent individual of their number, 
at the bar of pubhc opinion. 

Of the subjects discussed in the pamphlet alluded to, our 
present concern is solely with those which refer to the author's 
opinions on slavery ; or to his defence of his course of conduct 
as a West India proprietor. 

He intimates that he is opposed in principle to slavery, and 
anxious to see it abohshed ; due regard being paid to the in- 
terests of the planters, and to the fitness of the negroes for 
freedom. Were we to judge, by the comparative earnestness 
with which, on the one hand, he describes the hatred of slavery, 
and, on the other, his repugnance to immediate abolition, and 
his views of the difficulties of a general emancipation, we should 
certainly come to the conclusion, that his sense of the former 
is feeble indeed, compared with his impressions of the latter. 
His remarks on the unfitness of the negroes for freedom, show 
an inexcusable ignorance of the facts of the case. When he 
speaks of the innate indolence of the negro, of the far more 
elevated natives of our eastern territories in the scale of civi- 
lisation, of the negroes as the least fit of all human beings 
for entire freedom of person and action, and declares, that they 
are still only to be regarded as in their pagan state, he shows 
evidently from what " practical source" his information has 
been derived. Surely his tremendous responsibility, as the 
owner of three hundred human beings, ought to have impelled 

2 p3 



434 



APPENDIX, 



him, by a sincere investigation, (we would say, by a personal 
inquiry if no other way -were left open,) to ascertain whether 
the premises were true, from which conclusions are deduced 
so important to the destinies of his slaves. We will, however, 
test him on his own principles. There are a number of men 
on every large estate who are intrusted with employments re- 
quiring great skill and intelligence. These men display pru- 
dence and industry, not to say acquisitiveness, in the manage- 
m.ent and increase of their own little property. Who will dare 
to deny that they are fit for freedom ? and, if so, on what 
principle has the proprietor of Arcadia continued to retain them 
as slaves, profiting by their uncompensated labour ? 

An examination of the practical conduct of the proprietor of 
Arcadia, has brought us to conclusions equally painful. We 
will consider his statements seriatim. He denies, however, the 
right of any one " to intrude into his private affairs."* We 
disclaim any such intention ; and in our turn deny, that the 
interests of the slave population of our colonies are the private 
concerns of any individual proprietor. 

Charges contained in the Anti-slavery Reporter, quoted from 
the ''Letter to Thomas Wilson, Esq.," with observations 
thereon : — 

I. " ' Above all,' it is alleged, ' he might have provided re- 
ligious instruction ; though to this hour nothing effective, we 
fear, has been done for that paramount object.' I ask the 
reader of my evidence, whether there be any plea, how^ever 
futile, for such an insinuation ? Does it not hold out, as 
plainly as possible, that Mr. Knibb had been engaged as a re- 
ligious instructor, and that I then was ready to renew the en- 
gagement, if he had found it expedient to return to Jamaica?" 

At the time the attorney of Arcadia gave Mr. Knibb leave 
to go upon that estate and instruct the negroes, he expressly 
forbade him to teach a single slave to read or write ; and when 
J. Vine first went to reside on Arcadia, he found only one slave 
v/ho could read. 

* '* I require them to show what right the constitution of their own, 
or of any public institution, gave them to intrude into my private 
affairs, and found charges against me of having violated my own prin- 
ciples in the management of my property ?" — Letter to Thomas Wil- 
son, Esq. 



APPENDIX. 435 

II. "'Mr. H. might have had, at least, an elementary- 
school on his estate ; he might have found a man and his wife 
competent to the task, &c., upon it.' Had I told the com- 
mittee, ' even when urged,' all I had done, they would have 
known that, as such persons could not be obtained of the Bap- 
tist Society, I had applied to the Moravian Committee in Lon- 
don, for a resident instructor and his- wife, and that if such 
persons are not on the estate it is only because I could not ob- 
tain them." 

It is extraordinaiy that such persons could not be found, 
seeing the numbers who have subsequently been engaged under 
similar circumstances ; but experience has shown that had such 
individuals been sent out, their efforts would have been success- 
fully obstructed by the attorney of Arcadia. 

III. " ' Did he wish to rescue his slaves fi^om all necessity 
of Sunday labour ? ' Yes — he did, and it was among the first 
and chief things pressed upon the attention of the attorney on 
the estate ; and further urged in the personal intercourse I had 
with him in London, just before the late insurrection, which 
has put eveiy thing, for the present, out of course." 

See the remarks on No. 4. 

IV. " ' He might have introduced regulations as to mar- 
riage.' I can only say, that if the greatest encouragement is 
not held out to the slaves on that subject, it is in direct contra- 
vention of my instructions ; and I have no reason to imagine 
that on this point, at least, the disposition of the attorney 
differs from my own. Married persons have, with other en- 
couragements, all that very comfortable dwellings can give. 
Mr. Knibb will bear testimony : he states, ' The estate is the 
most comfortable one, in every respect, that I have ever seen. 
The houses in which the labom'ers live are excellent, and 
every thing connected with the estate has the appearance of 
comfort.' " 

In a number of the Christian Record now before us, mention 
is made of a proprietor, who " concluded that giving instruc- 
tions by letter in Scotland, and carrying them into full effect 
in Jamaica, meant the same thing." The editor observes, 
"This is a misconception, to which the West India proprietors 
resident in Great Britain are, notwithstanding, so prone, that 



436 APPENDIX. 

we know not how to avoid considering it a determined self- 
deception." We are credibly informed, that there is a row of 
good houses in front of the negro village of Arcadia, but that 
these are not allotted to the married people as an encourage- 
ment. The head people dwell in miserable hovels, a fact that 
W. Knibb could not have been aware of when he wrote in 
praise of the negro houses of Arcadia. We can scarcely re- 
concile our author's remark on the favourable disposition of the 
attorney on this point, with the information he possessed of 
his character and conduct. 

V. " ' He might have established compulsory manumis- 
sion ! ' It is not needed. The power granted to the attorney 
gives him power to manumit any that are inclined to purchase 
it. A slave has recently been manumitted, who had no other 
ground of claim than the alleged verbal promise of the former 
proprietor, made several years ago." 

The general reply to the charge of the Anti-slavery Reporter, 
on this and the two preceding points, is weak and evasive. The 
example which is given is most incorrectly stated. The facts 
of the case are as follow : — During the time of the former 
proprietor of Arcadia, one of the slaves was anxious to procure 
the freedom of his daughter. He bought two valuable male 
slaves, and placed them on the estate, in purchase of his 
daughter and her children. At that time a proprietor could 
not manumit a slave, without giving bond to the extent of 
£100 for the good conduct of the freed man, and for his main- 
tenance in case he should prove unable or unwilling to support 
himself. To evade this difficulty, a formal written document 
was executed, declaring the slave in question and her children 
exempt from labour for ever, and at liberty to reside on the 
estate, and receive their maintenance from it as formerly. This 
is what is called " the alleged verbal promise of a former pro- 
prietor.'* When the present proprietor came into possession, 
this woman and her children were re- enslaved. They were 
worked, flogged, and treated in every respect like the other 
slaves on Arcadia. Will it be believed, that at the very time 
the *' Letter to Thomas Wilson, Esq." was published, and 
until a recent period, she remained in bondage ; and regained 
her freedom at last, not by the act of the proprietor of Arcadia, 



APPENDIX. 437 

or his attorney, but through an investigation ordered by Lord 
SHgo into her case ? The Governor also directed that her 
claim, and that of her children, to wages, should be determined 
from the date of the apprenticeship; and £200 currency was 
subsequently paid to her, for their wages from the first of 
August, 1834. She and her children have received no com- 
pensation for their labour from the time when they were re- 
enslaved till the commencement of the apprenticeship, and the 
value of the estate itself would be no adequate recompense for 
the cruelties and indignities to which they were subjected 
during that long interval. This is an instance of slave-holding, 
and something more. 

VI. " ' He might have entirely interdicted the flogging of 
females.' He has done so, and has the written assurance of 
the attorney that his directions have been complied with. 

VH. " ' He might have given his slaves fifty-tv/o week 
days in the year ; he might have put down the driving whip in 
the field ; he might have abolished (with Mr. Wildman) the 
night labour of crop.' I have yet to learn that Mr. W. 
has discontinued the night sugar boilings. (See his answer. 
Pari. Rep., No. 7993.) As to the rest, I have avowed that 
such measures were only incipient ; indeed, time had not 
allowed for any thing beyond, and I cannot myself yet say 
what has been effected. Indeed, my answer. No. 4635, shows 
how little confidence I have at present in my own judgment as 
to the practical consequence of extensive changes." 

The proprietor of Arcadia pleads ignorance, inexperience, 
and want of confidence in his own judgment, ''as to the prac- 
tical consequence of extensive changes." In matters of such 
importance, none of these pleas have the smallest weight. He 
might have ascertained, without leaving his own counting- 
house, that the number of slaves on Arcadia was decreasing, 
though there was no disproportion of the sexes, and that this 
was owing in great part to the night labour during crop ; also, 
that night work had long been generally discontinued in the 
Danish colonies, and in several of our own ; and that this alter- 
ation, with the abolition of the driving whip, and many other 
improvements, had been adopted on several estates, even in 
Jamaica, without any disadvantage. 



438 



APPENDIX. 



Our author subsequently speaks of the honourable conduct 
of his negroes during the late insurrection. Had he known 
all that transpired on Arcadia at that eventful period, he would 
have desired to blot out the remembrance of it for ever. Much 
might be written on this subject, but we forbear. The pro- 
prietor of Arcadia has not been uninforaied of the character of 
the individuals by whom his property has been administered. 
He must have been aware that, from his attorney to the lowest 
book-keeper, all the white men on his estate were hving, some 
in concubinage, and others in promiscuous debauchery. Has 
he testified any displeasure at these things ? Has he withdrawn 
his confidence from the actors in them, or manifested any gra- 
titude to those who have brought them to his knowledge ? 

When the London Missionary Society concluded, soon after 
the introduction of the apprenticeship, to send out six mission- 
aries to Jamaica, one of them was selected to reside on Arca- 
dia. This individual was a man of well known reputation, the 
pastor of a numerous and increasing church, and one, therefore, 
who made great sacrifices to embark in the missionary work. 
Few, indeed, in the estimation of those who know him, of his 
own as well as other denominations, are more richly endowed 
with missionary qualifications. On his aridval on Arcadia, he 
was compelled to reside for a time in the same house with the 
overseer, who was living in the unhallowed way of the country. 
He endured indignities, and encountered obstacles ; but mean- 
time his spiritual labours were blessed. He and his wife 
taught upwards of sixty of the negroes to read, and their 
church was prosperous and increasing. It was attended by 
numbers of the white inhabitants, a class that few missionaries 
have been favoured to benefit, or to number among their spi- 
ritual children. One overseer was converted, and is now 
usefully employed in the Mico Institution, in promoting reli- 
gious education. Among the negroes his services were equally 
useful, and, a circumstance we believe unexampled hitherto, 
were not rendered unacceptable by the attendance of the 
whites. He has been compelled to break up his station, in the 
midst of a scene of distinguished usefulness, and to seek one 
where he may commence anew. 

We have placed these things on record, not without painful 



APPENDIX. 439 

feelings, nor from any other motive than a sense of duty ; and 
we cannot conclude without stating our deliberate conviction, 
that a Christian slave owner can only exercise a conscience 
void of offence towards God and towards man by emancipating 
his slaves ; and that that duty is not the less imperative at the 
present moment, because the era of complete freedom will 
soon be ushered in by Act of Parliament. The attempt to 
discover and pursue a middle course, demands not only a 
sacrifice of principle, but, if they are non-residents, involves 
them in the participation of evil which it is fearful to con- 
template. 



SECTION VII. 



STATISTICAL TABLES. 

EXTRACTS FROM TABLES COMPILED BY HENRY HUNTER, 
ATTORNEY OF LATIUM ESTATE, JAMAICA. 



Increase and Decrease, 8^c., on a Sugar Estate. 



+ Increase. 
— Decrease 

within 
iven period. 


No. of 
Negroes. 


— 23 . 


523 ... 
• 500 ... 


— 18 . 


500 ... 

• 482 ... 


— 9 . 


482 ... 


• 473 ... 


— 26 . 


473 ... 

• 447 ... 


— 8 . 


447 ... 


• 439 ... 


+ 2 . 


439 ... 
•* 441 ... 



Of those born, 
Births No. living 

within on the 

Date. given period. 28th Dec. 1836. Time. 



1817 \ 

1820 3 ••• 
18201 
1823/ ••• 

1823 1 
1826/ ••* 

1826 
1829 

1829 
1832 

1832 
1835 



36 6 16 

38 21 13 

36 20 10 

23 12 7 

30 18 4 

32 20 1 



441 ... „ „ 1835; 
+ "^ '" 444 ...Dec. 28th, 1836/ "• ^^ 



23 



iO 




APPENDIX. 






Increase and Decrease on 


a Coffee 


and Cattle Estate, 




belonging 


to the 


' same Pi 


oprietor. 




Increase, 

within given 

period. 




No. 


of Negroes. 

177 




Date. 

1800 


+ 29 






206 




1810 


+ 47 






253 




1820 


+ 61 






314 




1830 


+ 23 






337 




1836 



Table of Medical Attendance on the Sugar Estate. 

Through the years 1829 
Visits of Medical Attendant ... 217 

Patients prescribed for 4516 

Sides of Foolscap written upon . 398 



1830 


1834 


1835 


1836 


237 


131 


115 


111 


4067 


834 


554 


867 


276 


77 


50 


QQ 



Distribution of Labour. 

On the 1st Jan. 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 
In Agricultural labour, viz. 

First gang .....135 131 135 134 122 

Second do 60 60 60 59 64 

Third do 34 33 34 38 30 

Fourth do 27 27 27 11 16 

Tending Stock 16 17 16 13 14 

Various Jobs 19 17 19 16 13 

Grass Cutters 15 17 15 19 18 

Watchmen 24 25 24 25 26 

—330 —327 —330 —315 —303 
Mechanics, &c. viz. : 

Domestics 15 15 13 16 15 

Carpenters 9 9 9 11 11 

Coopers 10 8 10 9 8 

Masons 7 7 7 6 7 

Smiths 11111 

— 42 —40 —40 — 43 —42 

Total that work 372 367 370 358 345 



APPENDIX. 441 

On 1st Jan. 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 

Diseased 4 3 4 4 1 

Invalids 12 16 12 18 24 

With six children or 



, ,76763 

upwards 

Servants at Great House 14 13 14 12 9 

Young children 45 46 - 45 50 *64 

Total that do not work. —82 —84 —82 —90 —101 

No. of Negroes 454 451 452 448 446 



Comparative View of Time due from the Negroes to the Estate. 

Slavery. Apprenticeship- 

No. of working days in the year 280 231 

Negro days 33 82 

Sundays 52 52 

Total 365 365 



Amount of Crop in various Years. 
N. B. The inferior items of Molasses and Rum are omitted, 
being in proportion to the Sugar crop. • 

1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 

hds. trs. brls. hds. trs. brls. hds. trs. brls. hds. trs. brls. hds. trs. brls. 
369 35 8 238 36 7 363 2 290 4 5 *256 3 IO4 





Extent of Land in Canes. 




A. R. P. 


A. R. p. A. R. p. A. R. p. 


A. R. p. 


374 26 


352 3 31 361 2 31 324 20 


317 1 10 



Table of Loss of Cattle and Mules in each Year. 

1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 
Loss 6 6 6 7 tl3 

* The hhds. of 1836 were made of 44 inch staves, and those of pre- 
ceding years of 42 inch, making a difference of 3 cwt. per hhd. in favour 
of the hhds. of 1836, the crop of which was in reality somewhat larger 
than that of 1835. 

+ Five of this number being old Mules shot on account of disease. 
The loss of stock during crop on many estates is very great. See note at 
foot of page 412 in this Appendix. 

2 Q 



442 APPENDIX. 

From one of the preceding tables, it appears that the time 
legally due from the negroes to their owners, has been dimi- 
nished one-fifth by the apprenticeship law, and from the table of 
crops, that there has yet been no consequent diminution of 
produce or revenue, and this, notwithstanding the employment 
during slavery of a jobbing gang of slaves, to dig the greater 
part of the cane-holes, which are now entirely dug by the 
estates' people. The diiFerence is more than supplied by the 
apprentices on the estate working in their own time for wages, 
and in their master's, on a judicious system of task- work and 
remuneration, arranged by mutual consent. See the following 
table : — 

Comparative Table of Cane-holes dug by Jobbers and Estates' 
Negroes, for the Crop of 1831, 1832, 1833, 1834, 1835, 
1836, 1837, 1838. 

N. B. The acres of cane-holes are placed, not under the 
years in which they were dug, but under those in which the 
plant canes from them were or will be cropped. 





1831 


1832 


1833 


1834 




A. R. P. 


A. R. P. 


A. R. P. 


A. R. P. 


xlcres dug for l 


1 









plant canes V 70 1 15 47 3 10 32 1 10 49 3 5 

by jobbers ) 

By estates' } ^^ ^ 34 2 26 42 1 30 42 35 

negroes ) 



Total 84 3 15 


82 1 36 


76 3 


72 


1835 


1836 


1837 


1838 


A. R. P. 


A. R. P. 


A. R. P. 


A. R. P. 


Acres dug for J 

plant canes V 28 1 30 
by jobbers ) 

By estates' ? 39 3 10 
negroes ) 



35 10 




58 3 5 



76 3 36 


Total 58 1 10 


35 10 


58 3 5 


76 3 36 



APPENDIX. 443 

To secure continuous labour in the digging of cane-holes 
through the fall season of 1836, an agreement was entered 
into with forty cane-hole diggers as under : 

Every labourer to dig 405 cane-holes in the 4|- days due to 
his master, and to receive lOlbs. of salt fish, and a daily allow- 
ance through the week of sugar and rum for beverage ; the 
salt fish to be diminished in the ration of lib. for every forty 
holes short of 405 ; and to work in the 1^ day of his own 
time, at the rate of 3s. Ad. for every ninety cane-holes. 

The greatest labour performed by one labourer, was in three 
weeks or 13|- days. 

Dug in estates' time 1 130 cane-holes. 

In his own , 1017 

A. R. p. 

Total 2147 about 3 7 

For which he received 28lbs. offish, and cash £1 155. Od. 



The whole quantity of fifty-eight acres for the season was 
finished in forty-four days, being 1a. 1r. IOp. to each labourer 
at the following cost : — 

£ 5. d. 
Rum fc?. per day for six days, for forty negroes ... 15 
Sugar Id. ditto ditto ditto ... 1 

Fish, 3^. per week, for 405 holes 6 

Money wages Friday and Saturday 10 

Expenses of digging eight acres 17 15 

The cost of digging the fifty- eight acres was there- 
fore 147 10 

Had jobbers been employed, the cost would have 

been, viz. fifty-eight acres at £8 per acre 464 

Or had jobbers dug half, as would probably have 

been the case, under the old system 232 

Being in either case a considerable saving of expense, be- 
sides the increase of the prosperity of the estates' negroes, by 
distributing the wages among them that formerly went to 
the owner of the jobbing gang. 



444 APPENDIX. 

Comparative Expense of cleaning Pastures, 8fC. by Slave a7id 
Free Labour. 

In cleaning of pasture land, what a jobber would demand £3 
to £4 per acre for, the plantation labourer has done at £1 per 
acre, and made 25. Qd. per day wages. 

In falling a piece of woodland, the first gang of one hundred 
and forty- three labourers cleared in one day 10a. 2r. Op. at 
three and four-pence each per day, or £23 135. 4c?., or £2 os. 
per acre, which a jobbing gang would not have undertaken for 
less than £8 to £10 per acre. 

Task-work in cleaning of canes has yet to be tried. 



Comparative efficiency of Slave and Free Labour falling 
Woodland. 
The piece of woodland above-mentioned was cleared 

by labourers to the acre 14 

During slavery it would have required labourers to 

to the acre 25 to 30 

Digging Cane-holes. 

During slavery were required to dig in light soil in 

a day, labourers to the acre 31 to 35 

During slavery were required to dig in clay soil in 

a day, labourers to the acre 40 to 44 

The first being at the rate of holes per la- 
bourer, eighty- seven, or one hole in 8 to 9 minutes 

The second being at the rate of holes per la- 
bourer, sixty-eight, or one hole in 10 to 12 minutes 

Since the introduction of the apprenticeship under the system 
of remuneration described above. 

1 man, a strong labourer, has dug cane-holes, averaging, per hole, 1| minutes. 
1 woman, ditto ditto ditto 2\ ditto 

1 man, an ordinary labourer, ditto ditto 3§ ditto 

1 woman, ditto ditto ditto 5 ditto 



During slavery the daily labour by male and female averaged 
seventy minimum to ninety maximum. 

For wages the| ^^^^^^ __ 27o) . .. , ,.„, Males ... 28ol , ,«,. , ,„„- 
negroes l>ave p^^^j^, ^ In ^ov. 1834. j. j ^ InlSSo and 1836. 
duginonedayj ; ) 



APPENDIX. 445 

Particulars of Wages Paid and Earned. 

The rates paid for cane hole digging, &c., have already been 

stated. 

WAGES FOR TRANSIENT LABOUR. 



A prime head man 
An inferior ditto 




8rf. 


per horn- 
ditto. 








2 






First gang 


able... 




li 


ditto. 






Ditto, 


weaklv 




H 


ditto. 






Second gang, able 




li 


ditto. 






Ditto, 


weakly 




1 


ditto. 






Third gan^ 
Ditto, 


"■, active 




Of 


ditto. 






lazy ... 
m oth oj 




0|- ditto. 
of August, 1836, oy 




Wages Earned fro 


■June, to \st 


ten 




large Families. 




£ 


5. 


d. 


1 — 11 indi%'iduals 10 workers 




43 


14 


2 


1 — 4 ditto 


2 


ditto 





18 


4 


1 


1 — 17 ditto 


10 

8 


ditto 




31 


4 

8 


'^h 


1 — 9 ditto 


ditto 





35 


-2 


1 — 2 ditto 


2 


ditto 





11 


5 


4 


1 — 12 ditto 


10 


ditto 




24 


8 


Qi 


1—26 ditto 


19 


ditto 





42 


5 


2i 


1—3 ditto 


1 


ditto 




19 


18 


H 


1 — 10 ditto 


7 


ditto 





18 


13 





1 — 6 ditto 


4 


ditto 





7 


1 


4 



The following are instances of the highest wages and means 
among the whole population of the estate ; they are constantly 
held up as cases of imitation for others to follow by : — 



Estates' allowances 

Salary 

Wages for digging cane 
holes 

Ditto of spell keeping 
Value of house estimated 
Provision grounds, value 
of crop 

Yearly Resources 85 5 4 66 13 4 42 3 



A prime Head 


Infei 


ior Head 


First Gan.g 




-Man. 






Man. 




Lab 


Durcr. 


£ 


S. 


d. 


£ 


S. 


d. 


£ 


S. d. 


38 


5 


4 


21 


6 


8 


8 


3 9 


10 
























10 








6 











9 








7 





I 5 








5 








5 





32 








21 


6 


8 


16 


(J 



446 APPENDIX. 

Religion and Education. 
There are eighty-three married couples, who, with their 
children, amount to two hundred and ninety-three of the popu- 
lation. " The whole are Baptists, who attend Salters' Hill 
Chapel, upon the line of the property. About fifty of the 
children are at school, which is eneouraged as much as 
possible.^' 



General View of the Character of the Negroes as Labourers 
for two Years, from 1st of August, 1834, to 1st of August, 
1836. 



Good workers of their pro- 
vision grounds 60 

Indifferent ditto 106 

Bad ditto 203 

I^ee Children 76 

Total 445 



Good workers for wages 60 

Indifferent ditto 145 

Bad ditto 164 

Free Children 76 



Total 445 



SECTION VIII. 

THE BAPTIST MISSION. 

Statistics of the Baptist churches and schools in Jamaica, for 
the year ending MarcTi, 1837. 

Number baptized during the year , 2950 

Ditto of members 16821 

Ditto of inquirers 16146 

Clear increase of members during the year 2800 

Total number in connexion with the Mission 32966 

SCHOOLS. 

Number of Day scholars 1622 

Ditto Evening do . chiefly adults 451 

Ditto Sunday do 5594 

A history of the Baptist Mission in Jamaica would be a va- 
luable addition to the more permanent records of missionary 
enterprise which we already possess. Its commencement was 
obscure, but it has grown to a height and magnitude, within a 
comparatively short period, which has struck beholders with 
surprise ; and none probably have been more impressed with 
silent wonder, than the individuals who have been the means, 



APPENDIX. 447 

as feeble instruments in the hands of Divine Providence, of 
effecting so great a work. There are at present sixteen mis- 
sionaries of this persuasion in the island, the majority of whom 
have a principal and several subordinate station under their 
care : or, in other words, they are the pastors of three or four 
distinct congregations. 

It is impossible to suppose that labours so multiplied and ex- 
tensive can be advantageously sustained by so small a number 
of missionaries, and we would affectionately suggest the im- 
portance of supplying additional aid to carry on the work, to 
the directors and Christian supporters of the mission in this 
countiy . In addition to their more immediate duties, the Bap- 
tist and other missionaries have bestowed much effort upon the 
education of the apprentices and free children. We have 
already obser^^ed, that the extensive diffusion of education, by 
the missionaries, at a small expense, and by a very limited 
agency, is truly remarkable. An increased liberality, on the 
part of the Christian public in England, w^ould enable them to 
multiply their schools and extend their efforts in promoting this 
grand object, with greater effect, and still more extraordinary 
results. 



SECTION IX. 

WILLIAM HAMILTON. 

The sufferings of this individual, during the last years of 
slavery, were alluded to by J. M. Trew, the agent of the Mico 
Institution, in a letter to T. F. Buxton, which was subsequently 
given in evidence before the Apprenticeship Committee of the 
House of Commons. This letter was published with the other 
evidence appended to the report of that Committee, and was 
recently made the subject of a debate in the Jamaica House of 
Assembly, which afforded certain of the members an opportu- 
nity to vilify the man, who had thus dared to hft the veil that 
concealed the true lineaments of slavery. The following are 
characteristic examples : — 

" Mr. Trew is worse than a Baptist — the blackest sheep 
among them." — Speech of Mr. Hamilton Brown, in the 
Jamaica House of Assembly, 23rd February, 1837. 

" An old offender." — Mr. Dallas. 



448 APPENDIX. 

" The publisher of a vile fabrication and of a wanton and 
malicious falsehood." — Mr. Leslie. 

** The whole tale was got up for stage effect, and nothing 
else ; it was not true ; it could be nothing else than a deliberate 
falsehood." — Mr. Guy. 

" Altogether a fabrication." — Mr. Watt. 

"■ The work of imagination." — Mr. Hodgson. 

The dispraise of such men is an honourable distinction, and 
accordingly J. M. Trew has placed the above at the head of a 
letter to one of the island newspapers, in which he has given a 
history of these proceedings of the house. A committee was 
appointed to inquire into the facts, by whom J. M. Trew and 
William Hamilton were examined ; but as this long-threatened 
inquiry was conveniently deferred till near the close of the ses- 
sions, no result of its labours is ever likely to be made public. 
It is more than possible, that the evidence of Hamilton, as 
tending to prove more than was desired, has been expunged 
from the minutes. Any but the most cursory mention of the 
atrocities perpetrated during slavery, will be incompatible with 
our present object, nor should we have alluded to Hamilton's 
history, but for the above-mentioned circumstances which 
connect it with the present system. Hamilton was the only 
slave on the Bog Estate who dared to attend a place of wor- 
ship ; the only one of upwards of 400 negroes who dared to 
live with his partner in marriage. For these offences he was 
degraded from being a first-rate mechanic and copper-smith, to 
the rank of a common field labourer, and sent to a swampy 
estate, thirty miles distant from his wife and family, where he 
narrowly escaped with his life. He had learned to read and 
write when a boy, by stealth, and during his banishment he 
kept a journal, which, though it is chiefly the record of his spi- 
ritual conflicts, and his religious labours among the neglected 
heathen negroes with whom his lot was cast, yet contains 
many incidental allusions to the sufferings of himself and his 
fellow- slaves. A copy of this painfully interesting manuscript 
is in our possession. It is an interior picture of slavery, which 
exceeds, perhaps, any that the world has yet seen, and has 
forcibly impressed us with the conviction, that the worst fea- 
tures of that horrible state of society neither have been, nor 
can be, laid open to public view. 



APPENDIX- 449 

On the introduction of the apprenticeship he purchased his 
freedom ; in reference to which transaction he stated to us, 
that during the time of his persecution, he was looking forward 
very anxiously to the new system ; but when he heard that the 
power was to be taken out of the managers' hands, he gave up 
the idea of purchasing his time. His overseer renewed his ill- 
treatment, and the special magistrate threatened to flog him. 
He then gave notice to be valued, and was appraised at £209, 
being at the time in ill-health. Mr. Tate, his overseer, then 
gave him one of the best characters in the country. He said, 
too, that to be deprived of Hamilton's services, would be a loss 
of £500 a-year to his proprietor, though he had been employ- 
ing him as a common cane-hole digger. As Tate placed so 
high a value on him, he offered to be employed by him as a 
freeman, but was refused. Hamilton stated, " Since this 
system, negroes of my acquaintance have often applied to me to 
be a witness at their valuation. On one occasion a negro was 
to be valued, who proved that he was a non-predial. His 
master endeavoured to make him a predial so as to increase his 
amount. I said, the man has proved himself a domestic, at 
which the special magistrate took offence. Soon after I car- 
ried my son to be valued, when I was not allowed to say any 
thing in his behalf. The boy was about fourteen. My wit- 
ness valued him at £8 a-year. Mr. Tate browbeat the witness, 
and said he was not going to stand by to see a man's property 
taken away without its full value. He called upon Mr. Stone, a 
neighbouring proprietor, to be witness for him, who valued the 
boy at £26 a-year. I said, 'Sir, you are valuing the hair on 
people's heads.' The special magistrate, Mr. Kelly, got into a 
passion, and threatened to put me in irons, and fined me 
£3 IO5. for disrespect to his court, which I paid. The valua- 
tion was at length fixed at £22 IO5. I have not heard of a 
single case since of an apprentice purchasing his time in this 
district. The magistrates and proprietors appear to have 
leagued together to put a stop to it. Previous to that, Mr. C. and 
Mr. S. both had apprentices who were purchasing themselves. 
Mr. C. sat as a magistrate to value for Mr. S., and Mr. S. for 
Mr. C. I heard that Mr. S. said we must value these people 
high, to prevent this habit of purchasing themselves. When 



450 APPENDIX. 

the apprentices saw how they were treated iii the valuations, 
they wanted to commission me to go to England to represent 
their case. I did not encourage it, because I was not sure it 
would be right, and did not know how it would succeed. They 
would soon have raised money to take me and bring me back." 



SECTION X. 

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION AND EDUCATION. 

The United Brethren have eight Stations. The number of 
persons in their rehgious care is as foUows : — 

Communicants 1738 

Members not yet admitted to comm anion 1451 

Children 2209 

Catechumens 3731 



Total, 9129 

They have also under their superintendence — 
25 day schools, chiefly on estates, some of 
them very small, but attended in the 

aggregate by 1043 children 

10 Sunday-schools, chiefly attended by 

older children and adults 1220 

A number of evening schools, in which are 

receiving instruction 483 

Total, 2746 

The statistics of the Baptist Mission have been elsewhere 
given. In addition to these two societies, there are the rectors 
of parishes and island curates, a few of whom are exemplary 
in the discharge of their duties. There are also missionaries 
and catechists of the Church Missionary Society, Wesleyan 
missionaries, Scottish missionaries of two societies, and mis- 
sionaries of the London Missionary Society ; many of whom 
are successfully employed in promoting education among the 
negroes, as well as in difiusing a knowledge of the saving 
truths of Christianity. Each society can number faithful and 



J 



APPENDIX. 451 

zealous labourers in the missionary work ; each can recount 
the names of brethren whose praise is in all the churches. We 
do not possess the necessary documents from which to furnish 
statistics similar to those of the Moravian and Baptist Mis- 
sions; but we cannot dismiss the subject without recording 
our deep sense of the value of their labours among the negro 
population. 

In addition to, the above, there are the agents of the Mico 
Institution, whose attention is more immediately limited to 
education. Their schools are numerous and efficient. 



SECTION XL 

VALUATIONS. 

" From the 1st August, 1834, to 31st May, 1836, 998 
apprentices purchased their freedom by valuation, and paid 
£33,998. From the 31st May, 1836, to the 1st November, 
in the same year, 582 apprentices purchased themselves, and 
paid £18,217, making in all £52,216 ; a prodigious sum to be 
furnished by the negroes in two years. This makes a large 
community of persons, of provident habits, spread through the 
country, who are establishing themselves as small proprietors." 
{Communicated.) 

From the above statement it appears that the desire to be 
free is daily becoming more general and more intense, and that 
the price of liberty remains the same, although the term of 
apprenticeship is decreasing. The amount paid by the appren- 
tices is a proof of the extent of the exertions and sacrifices 
they are willing to make for freedom, which can scarcely be 
appreciated by those who are unacquainted with the disadvan- 
tages of their previous condition. The negroes frequently 
raise the money by loans to purchase their freedom, and they 
are scrupulous in repaying money lent them for that purpose. 

One of the most intelligent of the special magistrates, E. B. 
Lyon, has furnished us with some information concerning the 
numerous valuations eiFected by him during the first two and 
a half years of the apprenticeship. He adds, " I have particu- 
larly and anxiously watched the conduct of those who have 



452 APPENDIX. 

released themselves by purchase from their apprenticeship, not 
alone from the influence their example would naturally have 
upon the remaining bondsmen, but also as an indication of the 
disposition of the labouring population after 1 840 ; and the 
result has been, that I firmly believe the island would have 
been in a far more prosperous condition had there been no 
intermediate state ; that the apprenticeship has rather tended 
to retard than develop the energies of the peasantry. I have 
had the opportunity of knowing that, of those who had freed 
themselves by purchase in my district, the tradesmen were en- 
gaged at first-rate wages, and the field labourers as managers 
of small plantations, or were settlers of plantations of their 
own. The women had husbands or families, who required 
their services for the promotion and increase of their domestic 
comforts ; very few were under the necessity of hiring them- 
selves out to service, but such as were have conducted them- 
selves creditably. I know of some receiving ten shillings per 
week as laundry maids and nurses." 

There are, however, other and less pleasing circumstances 
to be noticed in connexion with valuations. The same magis- 
trate, in one of his ofl^icial reports, makes some important 
observations, from which we extract the following in a con- 
densed form : — 

" The narrow-minded factionist refuses to adapt the laws 
to the new relations of a state of general and unconditional 
freedom, and discountenances and checks by persecution every 
approach to this condition. One species of opposition is, the 
exclusion of the husband or wife, freed by purchase, from the 
society of the wife or husband, who remains in bonds. It is 
not a mere threat of exclusion, but a proceeding systematised 
under the formalities of notices served, in which the parties 
are declared tenants, charged with an exorbitant rent, or in 
which they are warned to depart under the pains and penalties 
of the law. The special magistrate, in his struggle to protect 
the apprentice in his domestic rights, is then brought into col- 
lision with the local magistrates exercising jurisdiction over the 
persons released from apprenticeship. To mention a case or 
two : Two female apprentices to Mount Vernon, the property 
of Mr. M'Pherson, a local magistrate, both of whom were 



APPENDIX. 453 

old African women, were purchased by their husbands, who 
were desirous that their Kves should be devoted to the domes- 
tic comfort of their families, and that they should enjoy that 
necessary ease which their years and infirmities required. The 
moment their certificate of freedom was granted, they were 
directed to leave the estate, and forbidden to enter the houses 
of their husbands, unless they paid a weekly sum for the privi- 
lege. My endeavour to protect them in their civil rights has 
created a considerable degree of irritation against me among 
the magistrates and attorneys of the district generally. Mr. 
M'Pherson has threatened to issue his warrant under the 
Trespass Act for their apprehension. At Island Head planta- 
tion, Robert Graham purchased the remainder of his term, 
and was immediately ordered off the property, and forbidden 
to enter the house of his wife. A few weeks ago he crept 
into the house in the night. He is a Baptist, and they joined 
in prayer, and sung a hymn. His arrival was reported to the 
overseer, who instantly ordered the constables to watch the 
door and apprehend him, which was done, but by some means 
he escaped and came to me. I trust I have for a time secured 
to him his domestic right. At Buckingham and Boston, James 
Harris has six children, two of whom are incurably diseased, 
and requiring one person's constant attention ; and Ann Barns - 
well had two children, and an aged and impotent mother, with 
two or three others. The moment their release was eiiected, 
they were served with notices to quit, or to remain only on 
condition of paying an exorbitant rent, though occupying the 
same houses with their apprenticed children, and relieving the 
estate from the necessity of supporting and nursing their sick 
and disabled families. The same system has been pursued at 
Garbarand Hall and Serge Island, and / have reason to believe 
it is, as extensively and as insidiously carried on in every part of 
the island." 



SECTION XII. 

THE MARRIAGES OF APPRENTICES. 

It may surprise one who, reading the Abolition Act literally, 
finds that, subject to the conditions which it imposes, the 

2r 



454 APPENDIX. 

apprenticed labourer is in all other respects, "to all intents 
and purposes free," to be informed, that this high-sounding 
prerogative of freedom, purchased by the British nation for 
twenty millions sterling, does not enable him to contract mar- 
riage, without the written permission of his owner, or his 
owner's attorney or overseer. We have in our possession 
several original "permissions" to apprentices to be married. 
We have also been favoured with the perusal of a correspond- 
ence relating to a marriage, which was contracted at the 
Baptist Mission station at Yallahs, in the parish of St. David, 
during our stay there. The parties, two apprentices on Coley 
Estate, St. Thomas's in the East, had wished to be married at 
church, and applied to their special magistrate, E. B. Lyon, to 
write to the rector of the parish, S. H. Cooke, and request 
him to publish the banns. Tlie rector refused to publish the 
banns, and wrote a note to the overseer of Coley, in which he 
described the conduct of special justice Lyon, " as an imperti- 
nent interference with the management of the estate." It must 
be observed, that the said apprentices had lived together un- 
married for several years, but the interests of religion and 
morality appear to be of secondary importance in the eyes of 
the rector of St. Thomas in the East to those involved in the 
management of a sugar estate. The special magistrate and 
the rector both wrote to the attorney of the estate, James 
M 'William, on the subject, who, in reply, assures the former 
that his application to the rector to publish the banns " is 
certainly a most gratuitous and unprecedented interference with 
the internal regulations of the property, and quite unwarrantable." 
The special magistrate then appealed to the Governor, who 
directed his secretary to reply, " that there is no law to restrict 
the marriages of apprenticed labourers in any greater degree 
than the marriage of free persons ; and that his Majesty's 
Attorney General is of opinion, that the Rev. S. H. Cooke was, 
in the cases alluded to by you, bound to publish the banns." 
Notwithstanding this declaration of the rights of the appren- 
tices, the estate's attorney and the rector successfully defied 
the authority of the Governor and Attorney General, and of 
the law itself ; and the poor apprentices were compelled to 
contract a marriage, which the law does not recognise as legal, 
at a dissenting place of worship. 



APPENDIX. 455 

The same correspondence discloses another case of two ap- 
prentices, residing on different estates, who were anxious to 
marry, but could obtain permission from only one of their over- 
seers, the other refusing his consent. We have an autograph 
letter of another estate's attorney refusing, to permit an appren- 
tice under his control to contract marriage. 



SECTION XIII. 

A. L. PALMER. 

Dr= Palmer was appointed a special magistrate by Lord 
Sligo, soon after the commencement of the apprenticeship. 
When Sir Lionel Smith assumed the government, he Had been 
for a short time in charge of a district in St. Thomas' in the 
Vale, in which the apprentices had been mercilessly coerced by 
his predecessors. His impartial administration occasioned 
violent opposition on the part of the planters, and the arri- 
val of a new Governor was the signal for a simultaneous attempt 
to procure his removal, by representing the parish as in a state 
of insubordination. Dr. Palmer suggested to Sir Lionel Smith, 
to issue a commission of inquiry into his conduct, and thus give 
his accusers an opportunity of establishing their charges, and 
to afford himself the means of vindicating his administration of 
the law. The Governor appointed two special magistrates, and 
two local magistrates a commission for that object, the two lat- 
ter being planters in a neighbom'ing parish. The proceedings 
of the commission were characterised by extreme unfairness 
towards Dr. Palmer ; and at its conclusion a report was drawn 
up and signed by the commissioners, upon which he was im- 
mediately suspended by the Governor from his office. The re- 
port is in itself a complete justification of his conduct, and is an 
instructive illustration of the manner in which the planters and 
the Government interpret and carry into effect the Abolition 
Law. Every paragraph of the report might be quoted by Dr. 
Palmer in triumphant vindication of his impartial conduct as 
special magistrate. We quote the most important parts of it : 

" In the first place, we consider the parish of St. Thomas' in 
the Vale was in a quiet and orderly state, when special justice 



456 APPENDIX. 

Palmer took charge of his district in July last. Secondly, that 
certain questions of law arose between the managers and the 
special magistrate, such as ' the right of the husband (in the 
Tulloch case) to visit his wife ;' * the eight hour system ;' 
' the want of time for going to work ;' ' the want of cooks,' 
&c. ; ' the taking away of the hoes on Palm estate from the ap- 
prentices, in their own time ;' and other supposed grievances . 
all ending in opposite views, and inducing the magistrate to 
state his view of the law, in place of conciliating and restoring 
confidence." 

We have explained, on previous occasions, what meaning the 
planters attach to the terms order and quiet, and their opposites, 
disturbance ^Tidi insubordination. Before Dr. Palmer went into 
the parish, the apprentices endured the violation of all their 
legal rights in silence, despairing of redress from any appeal to 
the magistrate. On the arrival of Dr. Palmer^ their " supposed 
grievances" were brought before him, and the commissioners 
themselves have enumerated a list of what they term " questions 
of law," sufficient to show how that law had been previously 
administered. That they were oppressions of the gravest kind 
will be evident to the reader of the preceding pages, particularly 
of the 17th chapter. 

We would, however, call particular attention to the supposed 
grievance of taking away the agricultural tools from the appren- 
tices on Palm estate. The apprentices have no food allowed 
them from the estates ; they support themselves by cultivating 
provision grounds in their own time. To deprive them, there- 
fore, of their hoes, is to deprive them of food. Such a measure, 
so far from being merely " a question of law," or a " supposed 
grievance," is the very extreme of malignant persecution. 
Such cases being brought before Dr. Palmer, could he do other- 
wise than state his m&Y<r of the law ? By what other mode 
could he redress wrongs and oppressions, but by pointing out 
the legal boundary within which violence and outrage should be 
confined ? In the opinion of the commissioners, however, he 
ought to have conciliated and restored confidence. The interpre- 
tation of these ambiguous expressions is contained in the suc- 
ceeding paragraph : — " It is impossible that any reciprocal 
good feeling can exist between the masters and apprentices. 



APPENDIX. 



457 



when a mutual understanding does not exist with the special 
magistrate, and those placed in authority over the labourers,'' i.e., 
between the magistrates and overseers. This mutual under- 
standing, when it does exist, is based upon the sacrifice of the 
rights of the apprentices. It is a maxim in the Colony, that 
the irresponsible powers of the overseers must be upheld at all 
sacrifices of law or right. But the commissioners supply the 
best commentary on their own proceeding and views in the 
concluding paragraph of their report : — " Having been called 
upon to report, and give an opinion on the administration of 
the law by the special justices of St. Thomas' in the Yale, we 
must observe, that we consider special justice Palmer has ad- 
ministered the Abolition Laiv in the spirit of the English Aboli- 
tion Act ; that, in his administration of the law, he has adapted 
it rather to the comprehension of freemen, than to the under- 
standing of apprenticed labourers ; and that the present state of 
St. Thomas' in the Vale is to be attributed to such a mode of 
administration of the Abolition Law." 

The Governor, on recei\4ng this report, immediately sus- 
pended Dr. Palmer, "for his perverse conduct in the adminis- 
tration of the law," or, as the commissioners express it, for ad- 
ministering the law in the spirit of the Enghsh Abolition Act. 
Lord Glenelg has confirmed the Governor's decision, and 
directed Dr. Palmer's dismissal ; and has thereby proclaimed 
to every planter and every special magistrate in the West Indies, 
that the Abolition Law is not to be administered in the spirit 
of the Imperial Act. In this proceeding, the Colonial Office 
have made, for the first time, a distinct avowal of the policy on 
which they have been acting from the commencement of the 
apprenticeship ; and it only remains to ask, if the Imperial Act 
is not to be administered in its spirit, which means according 
to the rules of an honest interpretation, for what object did the 
nation pay the ransom of twenty millions sterling ? What have 
the negroes, the objects of its benevolence and justice, gained, 
but the exchange of a name, the privation of some of the 
necessaries of life, and new and more galhng chains of punish- 
ment. 



2 R 3 



458 



APPENDIX. 



SECTION XIV. 

SCALE OF " THE INDULGENCES OF SLAVERY," AND THEIR EQUIVALENT 
IN EXTRA LABOUR. 

" Memorandum of extra allowances formerly granted to slaves, (say to a 
gang of 100,) with a comparative view of labour, whicli ought to he returned 
if continued to apprentices and free children under six years of age." 

£ s. d.\ £ s. d. 

56 13 4. By 



To 34 Barrels of herrings 

1 00 Gallons of rum at 
3s. 

10 Cwt. of sugar at 30s. 

Extra allowance of os- 
nahurghs to 12 head 
people, domestics, 
&c.,720yardsatl0d. 

Half dozen head peo- 
ple's hats 

25 Yards of check 

4 Great coats or coatees 

100 Caps 

1 Tierce of fine salt 

1 Puncheon of oatmeal 

2 Dozen of port wine 
Medical attendance on 

12 infants, supposed 
number under six 
years of age, at 5 s. 
Clothing for ditto 
231 Working days of a 
nurse sitting down in 
field attending ditto, 
at Is. 8d. 
Probability of sickness 
of infants, equal to 
onefor 100 days, and 
mother attending, at 
Is. 8d. 
2 Hogsbeadsof fish, one 
at crop over, and one 
at Christmas 
Hot liquor from cop- 
pers, and canes from 
mill, equal at least to 
one-third of a hogs- 
head of sugar 
Besides the privilege of 
keeping goats, asses, horses, 
and horned cattle, and 
selling provisons. 



3 



19 5 



8 6 



27 







the hire of 34 able 
people for 52 half 
days, (half Fridays,) 
or 26 whole days 



73 



20 6 



6 5 



^199 4 



The hire of 20 second 

class, at lOd. 
The hire of 12 in the 

grass gang, at 5d. 
The hire of 13 able 

people for mill and 

boiling-house, from 

four o'clock, A. M., 

till eight, p. M., 7 

extra hours a day 

for five months, or 

tvv'enty weeks of five 

days, equal to 700 

hours, or seventy- 
seven and half days 

of nine hours, at 

Is. 8d. 
Hire of three dry trash 

carriers, and one 

child cleaning the 

mill bed, for the 

same time, at lOd. 13 
Balance in favour of 

the negro 
Boilermen and distillers 
who work continuously to 
be paid extra. 



84 



2 8 



^199 4 



APPENDIX. 459 

This scale was drawn up by a planting attorney, in the dis- 
trict of Manchineal, in the parish of St. Thomas' in the East, 
for the purpose of obtaining, without payment, the half Fri- 
days and extra time of the negi'oes during crop. It is a docu- 
ment which speaks for itself. It is an index to that fraudu- 
lent system which has been so generally pursued towards the 
apprentices. The extra allowances, as they are called, which 
the negroes receive, and some which they never receive, all of « 
which are legally due to the apprentices, according to the 
letter and spirit of the Imperial Act, are placed as a set-off 
against an amount of time, which was given by the same Act 
to the negroes, to be enjoyed as their own for their own be- 
nefit. The late special magistrate of the district sanctioned 
agreements on the basis of this scale, on several, if not on all, the 
estates in his district. The arrangement was in Qxery instance 
a compulsQiy one ; the extra allowances being of no equivalent 
value to the extra labour required, and which is rated in the 
scale, at from one third to one half the amount at which the 
ser\'ices of the negroes are valued, when they desire to pur- 
chase their manumission. Many of the extra allowances, also, 
it will be observed, are not distributed to those who perform 
the work, for which they are assumed to be equivalent, but 
according to the capricious and arbitrary arrangement which 
prevailed in slavery. Unjust, however, as the scale is in itself, 
and unjustly as it has been forced upon the negroes, its terms 
have not been fulfilled by the planters ; nor though the negroes 
are coerced to perform their part of it, do they possess any 
means of insuring the observance of the stipulation on the 
part of their task- masters. The weekly distribution of her- 
rings, which forms the principal item, has been sometimes 
discontinued for several nvanths, on estates where negroes 
were subjected to this scale. 

The concluding remark, respecting the " pri\-ilege" of selhng 
provisions, is worthy of especial notice. It would have been 
a fit addition to have enumerated the consumption of air and 
water, as ''privileges" which the planters accorded their ap- 
prentices of their own free bounty. 



POSTSCRIPT, 



'* 



REPLY 

TO 

LETTERS TO JOSEPH STURGE, ESQ., BY WILLIAM 
ALERS HANKEY, ESQ." 

BY 
THE AUTHORS OF "THE WEST INDIES IN 1837." 



Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? " 

GAL.iv. 16. 



The " Letters to Joseph Sturge, Esq.," purport to be a 
refutation of certain statements relative to Arcadia estate, at 
pages 197 and 198 of our Journal, and in the Appendix to 
sect, vi., page 433. How far that refutation is successful it is 
the object of the following pages to examine ; and we trust that 
we shall be enabled to defend our own veracity, and the authen- 
ticity of our information, without adopting that mingled style 
of denunciation and insinuation which characterises the " Let- 
ters," and into which we could scarcely conceive the author 
would have been betrayed, had he possessed the means of 
proving our statements substantially incorrect, or been able to 
adduce proof of those unworthy motives, of that falsehood 
and malevolence, which he has, in no measured terms, attri- 
buted to us. 

We would here repeat the grounds of our course of conduct 
towards W. A. Hankey : viz., that the interests of the negro 
population of our colonies are public interests ; we have else- 
where recorded our deliberate conviction, that, " of all the 
partners in colonial iniquity, none are more guilty than the 
professedly liberal, and especially the Christian proprietors re- 
sident in England." We have adduced various proofs of the 



APPENDIX. 461 

correctness of this opinion; and we maintain, that milder 
expedients having long been resorted to in vain, the inve- 
teracy of the evil is such as to demand the remedy of 
public exposure. W. A. Hankey characterises our proceeding, 
in his case, as " a violation of the decencies, no less than the 
laws, of every well-regulated society." 

In his former pamphlet, he took the intelligible ground of 
doing what he would with his own, so far at least as to claim ex- 
emption from the inconvenient strictures of any self- constituted 
public censor. On the present occasion, his language, though 
more cautious, is equally emphatic. Our defence is, a repeti- 
tion of our former denial, " that the interests of the slave popu- 
lation of our colonies are the private concerns of any individual 
proprietor." Those interests demand publicity. We will be 
clear of the guilt of violated rights : we will assist no slave- 
owner in the " determined self-deception " which has disho- 
noured the profession, and sullied the fair name, of so many 
professedly Christian men in this country. Whether they will 
believe it or not, we have adopted our line of conduct under the 
persuasion, that we are thereby promoting their true interests, 
as well as the welfare of their slaves. 

The author of the " Letters " conceives himself to be injured, 
because the substance of our statements was not made the sub- 
ject of a private communication in the first instance. After a 
most attentive consideration of the facts, in refutation or ex- 
planation, which he has now made public, we have to declare, 
that, with the exception of one point, on which we shall be 
happy to do him justice, our sentiments are unchanged, and 
we see no cause to regret the course we have adopted. We 
do not perceive that a personal interview would have produced 
any other result than that of deepening our impression of the 
unhappy consequences, so far as relates to his own character, 
of " the attempt to discover and pursue a middle course " of 
compromise and expediency. We had met individuals in Ja- 
maica who had brought under his notice abuses committed on 
Arcadia without obtaining their redress ; and various circum- 
stances contributed to give us the impression, which his " Let- 
ters " confirm, that such a conference, without benefiting his 
negroes, would have given a subsequent publication of our 



462 



APPENDIX. 



strictures a personal chai-acter, which we have been desirous to 
avoid, as we made them solely on public grounds. 

He is mistaken in attributing to us a previously-formed de- 
sign of making his delinquencies subservient to a certain 
object which he imputes to us. We did not take his work 
out with us. We knew not the name of his estate, nor any 
thing of himself, in connexion with Abolition, beyond the mere 
fact that he was a West Ind'.a proprietor, prominent in the 
religious world, and whose official connexion with the London 
Missionary Society had called forth what we deemed the reason- 
able remonstrances of some zealous friends of the anti-slavery 
cause connected with that Society. Our attention was directed 
to Arcadia in the ordinary course of our investigation : we did 
not go a step out of our way to procure matter of crimination 
against him ; nor were we prepared by anticipation to find that 
his "Letter to Thomas Wilson, Esq.," published, as he in- 
forms us, " for a temporary purpose, in 1833," was, in its cita- 
tion of facts, a tissue of misrepresentations. We do not charge 
him with intentionally falsifying facts in that Letter, or with 
being conscious beforehand of every specific abuse committed 
on his estate ;] but we assert, that he is, nevertheless, responsi- 
ble, in no inconsiderable degree, for the proceedings of his 
agents. 

Much stress is laid upon the fact of our having declined to 
visit Ai'cadia. Our reason for not doing so was simply what 
has been already stated, " want of time; " yet we may add, as 
the result equally of common sense, and, in our own. case, of 
experience, that a visitor to an estate, as the expected guest of 
the proprietor or attorney, cannot, unless by a rare accident, 
obtain any real insight into the condition and treatment of the 
negroes. 

With these preliminary observations, we pass on to a con- 
sideration of the case of the free woman and her family, who, 
being free persons, were re-enslaved when the present pro- 
prietor came into possession of Arcadia. We shall first see 
how far our original charge is afi'ected by the statements of 
the facts, as well as by his gratuitous supposition and incon- 
sequential inferences. We find, then, that we have been in 
error in stating that this family of ten persons regained their 
freedom, " not by the act of the proprietor," but through an 



APPENDIX. 



463 



official investigation. It appears they did regain their freedom 
by the act of the proprietor, an act which stands recorded on 
the estates' books, as one, not of justice, but of grace ; they 
were " manumitted by desire of W. A. Hankey." Ten persons, 
already possessing a legal and equitable claim to freedom, ge- 
nerously manumitted by the proprietor of Arcadia. Notwith- 
standing the strong exception which we may justly take to 
the terms in which he has recorded this circumstance, we 
gladly recognise the fact itself, that voluntarily, though at so 
late an hour, he did acknowledge the claim of these injured 
individuals to freedom. Why, however, was it under such 
circumstances, and at so advanced a period, that this tardy 
act of imperfect justice was performed ? With regard to the 
original transaction, he himself, he tells us, " was utterly un- 
conscious of the occurrence when it took place." He thinks 
it may be accounted for " without the necessity of imputing 
guilty intention to any one." 

His attorney assured him, "that he had no recollection of 
the case;" meaning, we suppose, of the claim of this woman 
(and, consequently, by a well-known legal maxim, of all her 
children) to freedom. This is utterly incredible. It is plainly 
impossible that the attorney could have been unaware of the 
peculiar position of these persons. It is not to be believed, 
that, apart from all other sources of information, the parties 
so deeply interested, the negroes themselves, should have left 
the attorney in ignorance of a circumstance so nearly affecting 
their welfare. But we have direct proof that the attorney was 
aware of this woman's claim to freedom. How came the au- 
thor of the " Letters" to refer to her case in the year 1 833, in 
these remarkable words ? " a slave was recently manumitted, 
who had no other claim to freedom than the alleged verbal 
promise of the former proprietor, made several years ago ;" a 
statement which he must now be aware had no foundation in 
truth, or, rather, was the very reverse of the truth. He will 
tell us that he ventured the assertion on the credit of inform- 
ation supplied to him from his attorney. The inference is 
obvious and inevitable. Again, he says, " he is happy in be- 
lieving that this (being registered as an apprentice) was the 
full extent of the injury done her ;" that since the date of the 



464 APPENDIX. 

" agreement" upon which rests her claim to freedom, " this., 
woman never was treated as a slave ; that she had done no 
labour for the estate ; that she was maintained upon it ; and so 
far from working herself, had one of her children in her ser- 
vice." In short, after supposing that this agreement might 
have been unknown by his attorney, or rorgotten by him, he 
asserts that its stipulations, as regards herself personally, were, 
notwithstanding, faithfully observed, with the exception of her 
name having been inserted in the registry of apprentices. He 
promises to produce proofs hereafter of the truth of these as- 
sertions, forgetting, that by the same act he will convict his 
attorney of having knowingly enslaved the other members of 
the family ; an act no way distinguishable from man-stealing 
on the coast of Africa, or in the free States of America, ex- 
cept in the degree of force and fraud necessary for its accom- 
plishment. Before dismissing this first part of the case, we 
would observe, that the statement in our book cannot be made, 
by any fair construction of language, to impute " privity or in- 
terference" to William Alers Hankey, in this act of high- 
handed oppression. We do, however, charge him with " clil- 
pable oversight or negligence." He says, the first intimation 
of the occurrence reached him in November, 1835. If this be 
correct, by what prescient faculty did he make a distinct re- 
ference to it in 1833 ? Perhaps he meant to say, that the first 
true statement of the case was communicated to him at the 
latter date. We can readily believe this : but the intimation 
which, from some source or other, he had received in 1833, or 
previously, ought to have been followed on his part by in- 
quiry into the circumstances. A fact so extraordinary as a 
recent manumission, would appear, if we mistake not, in those 
statements of increase and decrease of negroes and cattle 
which are annually transmitted by the attorneys of estates to 
proprietors resident in England. 

We now proceed to consider the treatment of these indivi- 
duals. We have stated them to have been "worked, flogged, 
and treated in every respect like the other slaves on Arcadia." 
The mother, we are informed, did no labour for the estate. 
Was she exempt, as a free woman, or as a slave } The mothers 
of six living children, or upwards, were by law, exempt from 



APPENDIX. 



465 



labour, and entitled to "an easy and comfortable mainte- 
nance." The sixth child of this individual was at least ten 
years old, it appears, in 1834; the promised proofs, therefore, 
that she was not worked as a slave,, must refer to a period an- 
terior to 1824, or they will prove too little. If they go further 
back than that date, v>^e have already shown that they will 
prove too much. Till the proprietor of Arcadia has made 
choice of his dilemma, we cannot admit that her exemption 
from labour is any exception to our statement. It is asserted 
that " she was never treated as a slave." Would that we had 
her own speaking testimony on this point ! Was it not treat- 
ing her as a slave to enslave her children ? Were not her most 
sacred rights as a free woman, and the mother of free child- 
ren, outraged in the persons of her offspring ? 

But it appears a further and extraordinary mitigation dis- 
tinguished her lot from that of other slaves. One of her child- 
ren, one of her own free daughters, was allowed to remain in 
her service. What had been the duration of this indulgence, 
and what was its origin ? Thereby hangs an episode in the 
secret history of Arcadia. This young woman was on one oc- 
casion brutally flogged by the overseer, under such disgrace- 
ful circumstances, that he was glad to compromise and make 
up the matter by allowing her to leave field labour, and to re- 
main at home with her mother. We hope the proprietor of 
Arcadia has not knowingly violated, in this instance, his own 
moral maxim, " suppressio veri, suggestio falsi ;" but that he 
has been unknowingly betrayed into error by the garbled in- 
formation supplied to him from his agents. He wiU perceive 
that our original statement, so far from being refuted, is es- 
tablished by the two apparent exceptions which he has made 
to it. With regard to the remaining members of the family, 
of an age to work and be flogged, it does not appear to be 
denied. 

The compensation made to this family for the injuries they 
had sustained, next claims our attention. The proprietor of 
Arcadia asserts, " Immediately on being aware of the circum- 
stance, I sent out instructions that justice should in all respects 
be done to the injured party;" and, in another place, "When 
the occurrence came to my knowledge, I took immediate 

2 s 



466 APPENDIX. 

measures for remedying it, in all its consequences." Althougli we 
are not informed specifically what those instructions and those 
measures were, beyond the mere act of liberation, we have 
some data to show what they were not. They do not appear 
to have recognised any injury, except to the extent of the dif- 
ference between the value of the labour of these negroes and 
their maintenance. Whatever else constituted slavery, does not 
appear for a moment to have entered the thoughts of either 
the proprietor of Arcadia or his agents. " However insigni- 
ficant these individuals in themselves," to use his condescend- 
ing phrase, we do not deem our original expression too strong, 
'' that the value of the estate itself would be no adequate 
recompence for the cruelties and indignities to which they 
were subjected during that long interval." Indeed, could any 
amount of pecuniary compensation atone for the enormous 
trespass which had been committed on these free persons ? 
We deny that it was ever in the power of him, in whose name 
and for whose profit the outrage had been perpetrated, to " re- 
medy, in all its consequences," so flagrant a violation of all 
law, human and Divine. 

What steps, however, were taken to make pecuniary com- 
pensation, so far as it was acknowledged to be due ? No at- 
tempt was made to effect it by a liberal and amicable adjust- 
ment. " It was," he observes, ** necessarily a point to be de- 
cided by the local authorities." Why was it necessarily a 
point to be so decided ? Commissioners or arbitrators were 
appointed to investigate the claims and make the award. Their 
decision was appealed from to the Marquis of Sligo, the Go- 
vernor of the Colony. Why was the question so involved in 
litigation ? Because, as W. A. Hankey " was given to under- 
stand," doubtless, by that very impartial and honest witness, 
his own attorney, that it " was made so much a party ques- 
tion." Elsewhere he says, " The opinion of Lord Sligo and 
the arbitrators most probably was, that up to the apprentice- 
ship the maintenance of the whole was a full compensation for 
the services which any part of them had been able to render 
to the estate ; and, if I mistake not, it was the resistance made 
on this point by the warm partisans of the female, that was 
the sole occasion of the reference to his lordship." But for the 



APPENDIX. 467 

disinterested interference of those benevolent individuals, who- 
ever they were; (we know only two of their names, J, Vine and 
W. Knibb,) who are thus superciliously mentioned, it is evident 
that this unhappy family would neither, in the first place, have 
obtained their release from bondage ; nor, in the second place, 
when released, would have obtained any pecuniary compensation 
whatever for their services. On our author's own showing, his 
attorney, though possessing instnictions "to see justice done 
in all respects," and " to remedy in all its consequences" his 
own and his predecessor's injustice, resisted the claim of this 
family to compensation for services rendered before the date 
of the apprenticeship. We do not wonder at his conduct. 
There is scarcely a slave- owner in Jamaica who would not 
hardily assert, that the maintenance of his negroes was a full 
compensation for their services. But we repudiate the idea 
that the Marquis of Sligo would for a moment tolerate any 
such plea. How could he have done so, and immediately af- 
terwards have stultified him^self by awarding compensation 
since the apprenticeship ? If the maintenance of these negroes 
was a full compensation before August 1, 1834, it was the 
same after that date, as the circumstances were in no respect 
changed, except by the limitation of the legal hours of labour, 
which would lessen the value of their services in proportion to 
their maintenance. It is evident that the arbitrators and Lord 
Shgo did not extend their inquiry beyond the date of the ap- 
prenticeship, in consequence of some technical difficulty totally 
unconnected with the equity of the claims to be decided. The 
question is one of simple arithmetic. Lord Sligo awarded 
£151 lis. Sd. for the unpaid services of the individ als in 
question, or, more properly, for the difi*erence in value between 
their services and their maintenance, from August 1, 1834, to 
February, 1836. An equal, if not greater difi*erence in value 
between those services and that maintenance existed before 
the apprenticeship. The compensation for "unpaid services" 
during that long period is still due to them ; and, taking Lord 
Sligo's award as our criterion, we re-affirm our original state- 
ment, that the sum they have received is not more than one- 
third of that to which they are entitled, " even on the pro- 



468 APPENDIX. 

prietor of Arcadia's own most narrow view of their claims 
upon his justice. 

With that fatal sophistry which, though it cannot deceive 
the intelligent reader, appears effectually to blind himself, he 
intimates that the services of a part of the family were balanced 
against the maintenance of the whole, suppressing the fact that 
the maintenance of the mother was, in addition to her freedom, 
included in the original "agreement;" that it had, in fact, 
already been bought and paid for. One of her elder daughters 
was, during a part of the period only, suffered to cease labour 
for the estate, and to attend to her mother; but this was a 
compensation for a brutal outrage committed upon her person 
by the overseer. The infant children were the only other 
members of the family maintained without labour. We doubt 
whether they ever cost a fraction to Arcadia, beyond their 
clothing and medical attendance. Infant slaves formerly de- 
rived, as the free children do still, their maintenance from the^ 
labour of their parents, in that fragment of time which the 
negroes are permitted to call their own. 

Some remarks are due upon the spirit in which W. A. Han- 
key has commented on this whole transaction. It is obvious- 
he has yet to realise a consciousness of the nature of the 
wrong which his agents have perpetrated in his behalf, and for 
which it does not appear that they have either lost his confi- 
dence or incurred his censure. He speaks of this family having 
been restored to their liberty, f " as far as it had been infringed 
upon.") A man who can thus characterise slavery, by an infer- 
ence, and, parenthetically, as a mere infringement upon liberty, 
does indeed exemplify, in a striking manner, " the unhappy 
influence of slave-holding both on slaves and their possessors." 

After having disposed of our "principal tale," as the pro- 
prietor of Arcadia lightly terms the enslaving a free family, he 
next bestows his attention upon its " episode," the treatment 
of J. Vine, a missionary, who was for some time resident on 
Arcadia. Our reply on this head will be very brief. The facts 
which we have stated were spontaneously communicated to us 
by that estimable individual himself; and nothing in the " Let- 
ters " at all disturbs our conviction of their accuracy, and of 



APPENDIX. 



469 



the justice of our comments. If the injurious consequences to 
the mission have been since partially remedied by a change of 
measures, we heartily rejoice at the improvement; and had its 
announcement been accompanied by any expression of regret 
for the past, and of displeasure at the disgraceful conduct of 
the attorney of Arcadia, we should have been sincerely sorry 
that our statements, however just, had ever been made pubhc. 
The proprietor of Arcadia passes over one strong feature of the 
case in a truly characteristic manner, by intimating that it was 
not " in good taste " to refer to it. Of all the observations 
in his pages, perhaps, this is the most remarkable. At the risk 
of again offending his fastidiousness, we must repeat, that the 
missionary and his family, on their arrival, were " compelled to 
reside, for a time, in the same house with the overseer, who 
was living in the unhallowed way of the country," although 
the " great house " was at the time unoccupied. This, it appears 
from the '' Letters," was one of those inconveniences for which 
" the good sense and proper feelings of the parties would make 
due allowance." Such an observation appears to us like the 
addition of insult to injury; for, what greater injury could have 
been inflicted on a Christian minister, and his pure-minded wife,, 
recently arrived from their own land, where morality and de- 
cency are at.least outwardly respected ? To allude to such a 
subject is, however, not in good taste. To bring to light the cru- 
elty of slavery, by " private authority," is a " crime by the laws 
of England;" to expose its twin feature, licentiousness, is an 
offence against good taste. We know that it is impossible to 
speak the whole truth here ; we have details in our possession 
too revolting ever to be submitted to public gaze. The veil 
can only be partially withdrawn, that hides the impurity of 
slavery. We have felt, notwithstanding, that to have been 
wholly silent would have involved us in a tacit participation in 
guilt. To condemn the remarks we have quoted as in decid- 
edly bad taste, will be, in our judgment, the mildest censure 
which the readers of the " Letters" will be inclined to pass 
upon them . 

In the Postscript of the " Letters " the follov/ing quotation 
is given from a letter recently received from the " Rev. Mr. 
Vine :" — " I do not know whether he [Mr. Sturge] intends to 

2 S 3 



470 



APPENDIX. 



report any thing respecting Arcadia. I declined to furnish any 
accounts for such a purpose ; and, indeed, I know of no serious 
act of oppression perpetrated on the estate since the commence- 
ment of the apprenticeship ;" — " that is," adds the proprietor, 
" during the whole period of his (J. Vine's) personal know- 
ledge." The first member of the second sentence in the above 
extract conveys not merely an incorrect, but a false impres- 
sion of the origin and nature of our intercourse with the writer 
relative to Arcadia. We will not, however, hold him respon- 
sible for the apparent meaning of a part of his private corre- 
spondence, separated from its context. But the second part of 
the sentence imbodies an important assertion, complete in 
itself, and which needs no interpretation. We are glad that 
the writer is summoned as a witness ; and after an observation 
or two, we shall avail ourselves of the privilege of cross-exa- 
mination. 

We must observe, in the first place, how anxiously the pro- 
prietor of Arcadia has endeavoured to limit his testimony to 
the period of the apprenticeship. We are of opinion he would 
be a very credible v^^itness respecting many of the occurrences 
of the " old time ;" for example, in the case of the free woman 
and her children, of whose history we have a strong conviction 
that he knows all the particulars. Secondly, that the absence of 
serious oppression may have been the result of his residence on 
Arcadia ; and that this, in its turn, may account for the anxiety 
of the attorney to rid the estate of his presence. Next, we 
must remark, that the phrase itself is somewhat ambiguous — 
extenuating, and not denying, the existence of oppression. 
What does the witness mean by " acts of serious oppression? " 
Does not tlie detention in apprenticeship of a free family come 
within his definition ? Or, leaving that case out of the ques- 
tion, does he merely intend to imply that any thing short of 
flogging an unfortunate runaway to death, as occurred a very 
few years ago on Arcadia, (J. Vine can give the particulars,) 
can be designated as acts of serious oppression ? But if he can- 
not define his negative expression in a manner satisfactory to 
himself and to us, perhaps he will give us a little positive in- 
formation, and leave the court to characterise the acts of op- 
pression by epithets of their own choice. 



APPENDIX. 



471 



We will suggest a few leading topics, on which detailed in- 
formation would be highly desirable. Can he then inform us, 
whether the apprentices have been compelled to perform merely 
the legal amount of forty and a half hours weekly labour ? 
and whether for all extra labour, especially during crop time, 
they have, without any direct or indirect coercion, been left to 
make their own fair bargains for remimeration, according to 
the Imperial Act } In that case, a considerable sum in wages 
will have been disbursed on Arcadia. He can state the amount, 
and describe the arrangements with regard to labour, so as to 
show that the Imperial Act has not been generally and sys- 
tematically violated on that estate since the commencement of 
the apprenticeship, which wiU redound highly to the honour of 
the proprietor and his agents. 

Then as to maintenance. Have the salt fish, the field-cooks, 
and water-carriers, &c., been continued; and, if they have, has 
any equivalent been illegally extorted over and above the forty 
and a half hours of weekly legal labour ? What is the extent 
and quality of the negro grounds, and what their distance 
from the negro village ? Have the apprentices been worked 
at aU under the fraudulent eight-hour system ? Have the 
pregnant women and nursing mothers had the same time and 
other necessaries as during slavery ? Have any apprentices 
had themselves valued, and, if so, at what rates, and what 
proportion do those rates bear to the wages paid to the same 
apprentices for extra labour ? 

We think we have heard that there are few or no non- 
predials on Arcadia. J. Vine can inform us whether that con- 
siderable body of negroes, who, during the year preceding the 
date of the Apprenticeship Act, were " not habitually employed 
in agriculture or the manufacture of colonial produce," viz., 
— domestic servants, nurses, hospital attendants, carpenters, 
coopers, masons, smiths, were valued as non-predials ; whether 
they are classed or deemed such at the present time; or, 
whether, on the approaching first of August, they are to be 
defrauded of their freedom for the two following years. 

We pass over a vast number of miscellaneous topics, and 
ask, finally, whether the witness can assure us that the white 
people on Arcadia have not employed their tremendous influ- 



472 APPENDIX. 

ence to corrupt the wives or daughters of the negroes, or to 
compel them unwilKngly to minister to their hcentious pas- 
sions ? 

If he can supply us with information on these several 
heads, w^hich will bear out his general and negative statement, 
we will do our best to give the proprietor and attorney of 
Arcadia an honourable place among those whose conduct to 
their negroes "is in striking contrast to the general manage- 
ment." 

It remains for us to make but one additional remark. The 
'' Letters," though styled in the title-page " an answer to our 
statements," and described in the introduction as a " satis- 
factory refutation," have left several not unimportant " state- 
ments" unnoticed. Are we to interpret this silence into a 
tacit admission of their truth ? Whether the refutation, so 
far as it has been attempted, is satisfactory, we willingly leave 
to the decision of the reader. 

We now dismiss for the present — we hope finally — this 
painful controversy. Much that we have written, we would 
gladly have withheld, could we have done so in justice to our- 
selves, and to those who have received our testimony as to the 
condition of the negroes, as that of faithful witnesses. We 
indulge the hope that these pages will meet the eye of other 
non-resident proprietors, besides the individual to whom they 
principally refer. Should such be the case, we would entreat 
them to consider whether holding their feUow-raen as property, 
besides its inherent unlawfulness, does not inevitably involve 
them in responsibility for " an amount of evil which it is fearful 
to contemplate." 

2nd Mo. 28th, 1838. 



NOTE. 

Since uic foregoing was written, we have looked over the 
Parliamentary papers, and find that several of the negroes on 
Arcadia estate have at different periods applied to purchase 
their release from bondage. The following is an abstract of 
the results of these apphcations ; — 



APPENDIX. 473 

About the middle of 1835, Cecelia Archer, a domestic, was 
valued at £S0 I8s. lOfc?., which, as it appears, she was un- 
able to pay ; she of course still remains in slavery. 

In the early part of 1836, John Bainbridge was valued as a 
predial, for £103 145. 9d., which enormous sum he paid. 

On the 20th of June, 1836, four of the apprentices belong- 
ing to Arcadia applied to purchase their redemption. The fol- 
lowing magistrates acted on the occasion. 

" William Lemonius, ) . • i. t i.- 
,, T -n o. } Associate Justices. 

J. J3. bAMUELS, 3 

" Charles Hawkins, Special Justice." 
William Lemonius was nominated to act on behalf of the 

proprietor of Arcadia, by George Marrett, the attorney. 

The first apprentice valued was Frances Donavan, a house 

servant, sister to Cecelia Archer, who had been valued twelve 

months previously, for £30 I8s. lOfc?. 

" Witness for estate — George Marrett, Esq., says she 

(Frances Donavan) has always been a house servant. 
" Witness for apprentice — none. 

" Mr. Lemonius values her as a predial, at 66 

" Mr. Samuels, as a non-predial, at 41 13 4 

*' Mr. Hawkins, two years and one month 62 10 

" Deduct one-third 20 16 8 

" Net sum awarded 41 13 4 

" Not paid." • 

But it seems the attorney afterwards let her have her free- 
dom for £32. 

(2nd.) " Eleanor Barnett, a washerwoman. 
"Witness for estate — George Marrett, Esq., says she is a 
washerwoman, but does not consider her a non-predial. 
" Witness for apprentice — none. 

" Mr. W. Lemonius values her at 66 

"■ Refuses to value her as a non-predial. 

" Mr. Samuels, at 49 12 6 

" Mr. Hawkins, at 50 

"£24 per Annum, two years and one month, de • 

duct one-third 16 13 4 

" Net sum awarded 33 6 8 



474 APPENDIX. 

" Sum not paid ; apprentice conceives slie is valued too high 
by Mr. Leraonius." 

(3rd.) " LosHiN Cross, of Arcadia, aged 18, a predial 
field labourer. 

" Witness for estate — George Man-ett, Esq., says she is 
in the first gang, 

" Witness for apprentice — none. 

"' Mr. Lemonius values at 60 

" Mr. Samuels values at 43 17 11 

"Mr. Hawkins, at £16 per annum, four years 

and one month Qd & S 

" Deduct one-third 21 8 9 

" Net sum awarded 43 17 11 

" Not paid." 

(4th.) "Frances Chrystie, 11 years of age — non-predial, 

employed at Great House. 

"Witness for estate — George Marrett, Esq., says she has 

always been about the Great House. 

" Witness for apprentice : — Eleanor Bamett ; her mother says 

she has never been in field, but employed about Great House. 

"Mr. Lemonius values her as a predial, at *52 

"Mr. Samuels, as non-predial, at 32 

" Mr. Hawkins, non-predial, two years and one 

month, at £16 per annum 32 16 8 

" Deduct one -third 10 18 10 

" Net sum awarded 21 17 10 

" Divide among the net sum as agreed 26 13 4" 

Some correspondence between the Governor and the special 
magistrate took place, relative to the foregoing cases, which 
induced the Attorney of Arcadia to consent to the re-valuation 
of Eleanor Barnett and her daughter, the result of which was 
as follows : — 

"James Musray, Esq., Associate Justice. 

" Charles Hawkins, Special Justice." 

* £Z2 in the Parliamentary papers, but evidently a mistake in print- 
ing, as appears afterwards. 



APPSNDIX. 



475 



" Eleanor Barnett, noD-predial washerwoman. 
''Witness for estate— Paul King, overseer, says she is 
worth £16 per annum. 

" Witness for apprentice — none. 

" To two years and one month 33 5 

" Deduct one-third 11 1 8 

*' Net sum awarded 22 3 4 



*' Not paid, not agreed to." 

"Frances Chrystie, aged 11, non-predial; house girl. 

" Witness for estate — Paul King, overseer, says she is a 
house girl for Great House. 

" Witness for apprentice — none. 

"Valued without any deduction, at £10 Ss. 4d. 

" Not agreed to." 

The foregoing cases afford a most striking illustration, not 
only of the frauds practised on Arcadia estate, but of the ge- 
neral principles on which these valuations are conducted. It 
will be observed that the magistrate selected to value on be- 
half of the estate, by the attorney of Arcadia, in the face of 
the clearest evidence, persists in classing domestics as agricul- 
tural labourers ; and that the attorney himself, while admitting 
in his evidence that Eleanor Barnett is a washerwoman, de- 
clares that she is not entitled to be classed as a non-predial. 

These cases are conclusive as to the fact hinted at in our 
concluding remarks relative to fraudulent classifications on 
Arcadia estate. 

The conduct of the special magistrate, who is supposed to 
be the protector of the rights of the negro, is also open to ani- 
madversion. It will be seen, that in several instances the gross 
amount of his award actually exceeds that of the local magis- 
trates. In the case of Frances Donavan, he fixed her net value 
at £41 13s. 4id. for two years' service, whereas her sister, for 
three years' service, was only called on to pay £30 185. \0d. ; 
thus showing, as we have elsewhere stated, that the valuations 
of apprentices are increasing in amount, in the inverse ratio of 
the shortness of the remaining term of service. Lastly, in the 
case of Frances Chrystie, we find him valuing the services of 



476 APPENDIX. 

a cliild of eleven years of ^tijgQ, at £16 per annum, the s^rae 
price he had put on the sei-vices of an able field-labourer in 
the previous valuation. 

In conclusion, we would observe, that where confidence ex- 
ists between the proprietor, or his agent and the negroes, any 
reference to these tribunals is rendered needless, as it is easy 
to fix the terms by private arrangement, which is sanctioned 
by law ; these cases clearly shovv that no such confidence is to 
be found on Arcadia estate; and the very circumstance of so 
many apprentices applying together to be released from their 
galling voke, is to our minds strongly indicative of a prevail- 
ing feeling of discontent amongst the people. 



W. Tyk-r. Printer, Bolt-court, Fleet-street. 



